Editing Fullerene (section)

===Discovery of {{chem|C|60}}===
In 1985, [[Harold Kroto]] of the [[University of Sussex]], working with [[James R. Heath]], [[Sean O'Brien (scientist)|Sean O'Brien]], [[Robert Curl]] and [[Richard Smalley]] from [[Rice University]], discovered fullerenes in the sooty residue created by vaporising carbon in a [[helium]] atmosphere. In the [[mass spectrometry|mass spectrum]] of the product, discrete peaks appeared corresponding to molecules with the exact mass of sixty or seventy or more carbon atoms, namely {{chem|C|60}} and {{chem|C|70}}. The team identified their structure as the now familiar "buckyballs".<ref name="kroto1985">{{Cite journal |last1=Kroto |first1=H.W. |last2=Heath, J. R. |last3=Obrien |first3=S. C. |last4=Curl |first4=R. F. |last5=Smalley |first5=R. E. |display-authors=3 |year=1985 |title={{chem|C|60}}: Buckminsterfullerene |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=318 |issue=6042 |pages=162–163 |bibcode=1985Natur.318..162K |doi=10.1038/318162a0 |s2cid=4314237}}</ref>

The name "buckminsterfullerene" was eventually chosen for {{chem|C|60}} by the discoverers as an homage to [[American people|American]] [[architect]] [[Buckminster Fuller]] for the vague similarity of the structure to the [[geodesic dome]]s which he popularized; which, if they were extended to a full sphere, would also have the icosahedral symmetry group.<ref>[http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/buckyball/c60a.htm Buckminsterfullerene, {{chem|C|60}}]. Sussex Fullerene Group. chm.bris.ac.uk</ref> The "ene" ending was chosen to indicate that the carbons are [[saturated hydrocarbon|unsaturated]], being connected to only three other atoms instead of the normal four. The shortened name "fullerene" eventually came to be applied to the whole family.

Kroto, Curl, and Smalley were awarded the 1996 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1996 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1996/ |access-date=7 February 2014}}</ref> for their roles in the discovery of this class of molecules.