A photochemical route to the formation of two C60 molecules which are bridged by one and up to eighteen carbon atoms to form bucky-dumbbell shaped molecules, i.e., C60 \u3e C \u3c C60 to C60 \u3e C = C = C = C = C = C = C = C = C = C \u3c C60, etc. is described. Irradiation of C60 in solutions of chloroform and iodine (magenta color) with pulsed laser light from the frequency tripled (355 nm) Nd:YAG laser produced a dark crimson color. Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) negative ion mass spectroscopy was used to examine the irradiated fullerenes. Irradiation of solutions under low laser power for short periods of time (∼ 1 hr) gave exclusively C60 \u3e C \u3c C60 as evidenced from the negative ion spectrum. Higher power and longer irradiation times (∼ 3 hrs) produced C60 \u3e Cn \u3c C60 samples yielding negative ions with n = 1 to l8. Ions for even n bucky-dumbells are more abundant than for odd n which may represent the greater electron affinity anticipated for even n species. High performance liquid chromatography was used to separate the bucky-dumbbells from the dominant C60 molecules as well as C60 \u3e C \u3c C60 from the remaining clusters, confirming that the dumbbells were produced in the solution and not in the MALDI process. High Resolution TEM pictures and Raman spectra of the bucky-dumbells are also presented
