Convergent synthesis and photophysics of [60]fullerene/porphyrin-based rotaxanes

A series of Sauvage-type rotaxanes containing [60]fullerene and tetraarylporphyrin moieties has been synthesized by a convergent route. Photoinduced energy-transfer and electron-transfer reactions in these rotaxanes yield long-lived change-separated states, in agreement with the large distance between the fullerene and porphyrin chromophores.