Photochemistry of supramolecular systems containing C₆₀

Fullerenes have been used successfully in the covalent assembly of supramolecular systems that mimic some of the electron transfer steps of photosynthetic reaction centers. In these constructs C₆₀ is most often used as the primary electron acceptor; it is linked to cyclic tetrapyrroles or other chromophores which act as primary electron donors in photoinduced 'electron transfer processes. In artificial photosynthetic systems, fullerenes exhibit several differences from the superficially more biomimetic quinone electron acceptors. The lifetime of the initial charge-separated state in fullerene-based molecules is, in general, considerably longer than in comparable systems containing quinones. Moreover, photoinduced electron transfer processes take place in non-polar solvents and at low temperature in frozen glasses in a number of fullerene-based dyads and triads. These features are unusual in photosynthetic model systems that employ electron acceptors such as quinones, and are more reminiscent of electron transfer in natural reaction centers. This behavior can be attributed to a reduced sensitivity of the fullerene radical anion to solvent charge stabilization effects and small internal and solvent reorganization energies for electron transfer in the fullerene systems, relative to quinone-based system.