SMALLER CARBON SPECIES IN THE LABORATORY AND SPACE

The recent intense activity in carbon research which has resulted from the discovery and extraction of C-60 has uncovered a wealth of fascinating evidence for species of intermediate size between C, C-2 and C-3 that have been known for decades, and the stable fullerenes. Carbon species with 4-30 atoms appear to form linear chains and monocyclic rings as well as some, as yet, less well characterised structures. They appear to be key species is the creation of the fullerenes. Some of the key, mainly mass spectrometric, studies which appear to shed light on the structures of these intermediates and their role in fullerene formation are briefly surveyed and the likelihood that these species and/or their derivatives are present and/or detectable in space is briefly assessed.