Interaction of C60 fullerene with lipids

Unsaturated lipids when exposed to air at room temperature undergo a slow autoxidation. When fullerene C60 was dissolved in selected lipids (ethyl oleate, ethyl linoleate, linseed oil and castor oil) the spectrophotometric analysis shows that the oxidation is concentrated to C60 which is converted to an epoxide C60O. Thus, fullerene C60 displays antioxidant activity not only when dissolved in unsaturated lipids but also, more generally, when dissolved in unsaturated solvents subjected to autoxidation like, for example, in cyclohexene. The behaviour of C60 in ethyl oleate has been compared with that of the known antioxidant TMPPD (N,N′,N,N,′-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine) in ethyl oleate. The mechanism of the antioxidant action of C60 in lipids has been proposed. The kinetics of C60 oxidation in lipids was determined spectrophotometrically both at room temperature in the dark and under UV irradiation. The oxidized products derived from C60 photo-oxidation in lipids have been identified.