Noble gas to be retained. Neon, argon, krypton, and xenon also form clathrate hydrates, where the noble gas is trapped in ice. Noble gases can form endohedral fullerene compounds, in which the noble gas atom is trapped inside a fullerene molecule. In 1993, it was discovered that when , a spherical molecule consisting of 60 carbon atoms, is exposed to noble gases at high pressure, complexes such as can be formed (the "@" notation indicates He is contained inside but not covalently bound to it). As of 2008, endohedral complexes with helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xenon have been obtained. These compounds
Noble gas compound century, their inertness was ascribed to a full valence shell of electrons which render them very chemically stable and nonreactive. All noble gases have full "s" and "p" outer electron shells (except helium, which has no "p" sublevel), and so do not form chemical compounds easily. Their high ionization energy and almost zero electron affinity explain their non-reactivity. In 1933, Linus Pauling predicted that the heavier noble gases would be able to form compounds with fluorine and oxygen. Specifically, he predicted the existence of krypton hexafluoride (KrF) and xenon hexafluoride (XeF), speculated that XeF might exist as an unstable compound,