Supramolecular chemistry for the self-assembly of fullerene-rich dendrimers

Owing to their peculiar electronic properties, fullerene derivatives are attractive building blocks for dendrimer chemistry. Whereas the main part of the fullerene-containing dendrimers reported so far have been prepared with a C60 core, dendritic structures with fullerene units at their surface or with C60 spheres in the dendritic branches have been barely considered. This is mainly associated with the difficulties related to the synthesis of fullerene-rich molecules. As a part of this research, the self-assembly of fullerene-containing components using supramolecular interactions rather than covalent chemistry has recently generated significant research efforts. These results are summarized in the present account to illustrate the current state-of-the-art of fullerene chemistry for the development of new dendritic materials.