– 3 – March 8, 2010

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY 10027

Dr. Nicholas J. Turro TEL: 212-854-2175

Wm. P. Schweitzer Professor of Chemistry FAX: 212-932-1289

Department of Chemistry

3000 Broadway, MC 3119 e-mail:

August 11, 2009

Dr. Joan S. Valentine

Editor-in-Chief

Accounts of Chemical Research

Dear Joan,

Greetings from the East Coast. I hope that the summer has been a pleasant and productive one for you.

I am writing to respectfully submit the manuscript “The Spin Chemistry and Magnetic Resonance of H2@C60. From the Pauli Principle to Trapping a Long Lived Nuclear Excited Spin State Inside a Buckyball” for your consideration for publication as an article in Accounts of Chemical Research.

One of the most fascinating “factoids” of chemistry is the existence of two allotropes of hydrogen, pH2 and oH2 that differ in the orientation of their nuclear spins and in the way they rotate. The interconversion of these two allotropes requires a “spin catalyst” i.e., a paramagnetic molecule such as molecular oxygen. This Account describes the spin chemistry and spin spectroscopy of the two spin isomers oH2@C60 and pH2@C60. In the Account, we explore the issue of if and how the incarcerated guest communicates with the outside world and how the outside world communicates with the incarcerated guest. We attempt to translate the quantum mechanics that requires the allotropes to exist into a simple symmetry argument that chemists will appreciate.

Suggested expert reviewers are listed on the follow pages.

We hope that you will find our manuscript suitable for publication in Accounts of Chemical Research.

Best wishes for the remains of the summer.

Sincerely,


Suggested reviewers:

Martin Saunders

Yale University, Department of Chemistry

225 Prospect Street, PO Box 208107

New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107

Tel. 203-432-3915

Emails:

Michael R. Wasielewski

Northwestern University, Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self-Assembly

2145 Sheridan Rd.

Evanston, IL 60208-3113

Tel: 847-467-1423

Fax: 847-467-1425

Email:

Malcolm H. Levitt

University of Southampton, School of Chemistry

Room 27:2025

Southampton SO17 1BJ

UK

Tel. +44 23 8059 6753

Fax: +44 23 8059 3781

Email:

R. James Cross, Jr.

Yale University, Department of Chemistry

225 Prospect Street

PO Box 208107

New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107

Tel: 203 432 5203

Email:

Sho-ichi Iwamatsu

Nagoya University, Graduate School of Environmental Studies,

Chikusa, Nagoya, J464-8601 Japan


Tel: +81-(0)52-789-4849

Fax: +81-(0)52-789-4765

Email:

Simon B. Duckett

University of York, Department of Chemistry

Heslington, York, YO10 5DD

UK

Tel: 44(0)1904 432564

Email: