Photophysical insights into supramolecular interaction of a designed bisporphyrin with fullerenes C60 and C70.

The present paper reports the photophysical investigations of a designed bisporphyrin (1), and its supramolecular complexes with C60 and C70 in toluene medium. UV-vis studies reveal appreciable ground state interaction between fullerenes and 1. The stoichiometry of the fullerene complexes of 1 is found to be 1:1. Steady state fluorescence studies elicit quenching of fluorescence of 1 in the presence of fullerenes. The binding constants of the C60/1 and C70/1 complexes are estimated to be 3760 and 31,222.5 dm3 mol(-1), respectively. Time resolved emission studies establish relatively long-lived charge separated state for the C70/1 complex. Molecular mechanics calculations in vacuo evoke the stereoscopic structures of the fullerene/1 complexes and interpret the stability difference between C60 and C70 complexes of 1 in terms of heat of formation values.