The solid C₆₀ crystallizes in the fcc structure. In this respect, the fullerene molecules behave more or less like perfect spheres. In fact, at room temperature the buckyballs are not at rest: they rotate continuously and randomly. The fcc structure is well known from metallurgy: this is the most densely packed structure. However, there is a major structural difference between ordinary metals and the solid fullerene: with the C₆₀ as a building block, there is plenty of empty space between the balls, even if the packing is as close as possible. This opens up the possibility of putting other atoms e.g. alkali atoms into the structure.

Cubane and fullerene are high-symmetry carbonaceous cage molecules with remarkable chemical and solid-state properties, which have induced great scientific interest. Both materials form polymorphic molecular crystals with variable orientational ordering. Recently, it was shown that face-centered-cubic fcc C₆₀ forms high symmetry molecular crystals with cubane owing to topological molecular recognition between the convex surface of fullerenes and the concave cubane.

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