¹³C NMR study of the C60 cluster in the solid state: molecular motion and carbon chemical shift anisotropy

13C NMR spectra of solid buckminsterfullerene, the soccerball-like cluster of 60 carbon atoms, have been obtained at temperatures down to 77 K. The ambient spectrum shows rapid isotropic rotational motion. The motion is sufficiently slow at 77 K that a measurement of the chemical shift tensor of the carbon nucleus can be made. The tensor components (220, 186, 40 ppm) have values that are typical for an aromatic carbon. Spectra at intermediate temperatures suggest the possibility of either growth of a low-temperature phase in which C60 rotation is inhibited or a distribution of rotational correlation time