Cage connectivities of C88 (33) and C92 (82) fullerenes captured as trifluoromethyl derivatives, C88(CF3)18 and C92(CF3)16.

The trifluoromethylation of a higher fullerene mixture followed by HPLC separation allowed the isolation and X-ray structural characterization of C1-C88(CF3)18 and D2-C92(CF3)16 compounds that turned out to be the derivatives of C2-C88 (isomer 33) and D2-C92 (isomer 82), respectively.