Powering reductive charge shift reactions—linking fullerenes of different electron acceptor strength to secure an energy gradient

We report here on one of the rare cases that realizes a reductive charge shift from a primary electron acceptor (C60) to a secondary electron acceptor (C70) in a ZnP–C60–C70 conjugate. Initially, charge separation evolves from an excited state electron donor (ZnP). By far the most far reaching benefit from such a reductive pathway is a marked slow down of the energy wasting charge recombination when compared to the ZnP–C60 conjugate (i.e., picoseconds versus nanoseconds).