Efficient photoinduced electron transfer in a porphyrin tripod-fullerene supramolecular complex via pi-pi interactions in nonpolar media.

A novel porphyrin tripod (TPZn(3)) was synthesized via "click chemistry". Three porphyrin moieties of TPZn(3) are geometrically close and linked by a flexible linker. The electron-transfer oxidation of TPZn(3) results in intramolecular pi-dimer formation between porphyrin moieties as indicated by electrochemical, vis-NIR, and ESR measurements. The cyclic voltammogram of TPZn(3) exhibited stepwise one-electron oxidation processes of three porphyrin moieties in the range from 0.58 to 0.73 V (vs SCE in CH(2)Cl(2)). When TPZn(3) was oxidized by tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)-ruthenium(III) ([Ru(bpy)(3)](3+)), the oxidized species (TPZn(3))(n+) (0 < n