Editing Carbon compounds (section)

==Allotropes of carbon==
{{Main|Allotropes of carbon}}
The known [[inorganic chemistry]] of the [[allotropy|allotrope]]s of carbon ([[diamond]], [[graphite]], and the [[fullerene]]s) blossomed with the discovery of [[buckminsterfullerene]] in 1985, as additional fullerenes and their various derivatives were discovered. One such class of derivatives is [[inclusion compound]]s, in which an ion is enclosed by the all-carbon shell of the fullerene. This inclusion is denoted by the "@"symbol in [[endohedral fullerene]]s. For example, an ion consisting of a lithium ion trapped within buckminsterfullerene would be denoted Li<sup>+</sup>@C<sub>60</sub>. As with any other ionic compound, this complex ion could in principle pair with a [[counterion]] to form a salt. Other elements are also incorporated in so-called [[graphite intercalation compound]]s.