Large photoactive supramolecular ensembles prepared from C60–pyridine substrates and multi-Zn(ii)–porphyrin receptors

Fullerene derivatives bearing a pyridine sub-unit have been prepared. Their ability to form self-assembled supramolecular structures with mono- and polytopic Zn(II)–porphyrin receptors has been first evidenced by UV-vis studies. These supramolecular complexes are multi-component photoactive devices, in which the emission of the porphyrinic receptor is dramatically quenched by the fullerene units. This new property, resulting from the association of the different molecular sub-units, also allowed us to investigate in detail the self-assembly process using fluorescence titrations. The binding studies revealed positive cooperative effects for the assembly of the C60–pyridine derivatives with polytopic receptors as a result of intramolecular C60–C60 interactions between the different guests assembled onto the multi-Zn(II)–porphyrin hosts.