Although the procedure for the synthesis of the C60 fullerene is well established (generation of a large current between two nearby graphite electrodes in an inert atmosphere) a 2002 study described an organic synthesis of the compound starting from simple organic compounds [REF].
In the final step a large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon consisting of 13 hexagons and three pentagons was submitted to flash vacuum pyrolysis at 1100 °C and 0.01 Torr.