Abstract
Natural photosynthesis inspired the scientific community to design and synthesize molecular assemblies that possess advanced light-harvesting and electron-transfer features. In this review, we present the preparation and the photophysical investigation of novel porphyrin–fullerene hybrids acting as artificial photosynthetic systems. Porphyrinoids stand as chlorophyll analogues and have emerged as suitable photosensitizers in supramolecular electron donor–acceptor hybrids. Fullerenes (C60) are versatile electron acceptors with small reorganization energy and low reduction potentials. The novel derivatives presented herein mimic the fundamental features of the photosynthetic reaction center, namely, light harvesting, charge separation, and charge transport. To this end, a comprehensive analysis on these key processes that occur in various porphyrin–fullerene entities is illustrated in this work.
Highlights
The primary process in natural photosynthesis is the collection and subsequently the conversion of sunlight into chemical energy [1]
In this perspective review article, we illustrate examples of porphyrinoid–fullerene conjugates reported in the literature from our and other research groups, noting all significant findings concerning the field of artificial photosynthesis
The rate was 2 × 108 s−1 using o-dichlorobenzene as solvent. In this perspective review article, we presented various covalent and supramolecular artificial photosynthetic schemes that our group have studied over the past decade, analyzing the most important findings of these works. All these D–A systems consist of fullerene derivatives that act as electron acceptors and porphyrinoids, such as corroles, porphyrins, and phthalocyanines, utilized as electron donating units
Summary
The primary process in natural photosynthesis is the collection and subsequently the conversion of sunlight into chemical energy [1]. The most broadly investigated electron acceptors in artificial schemes are fullerenes and C60 , since these carbon-based materials retain distinctive electronic and photophysical features Their rigid structure permits the stabilization of charged moieties through the delocalization of electrons or holes. The reported triad displayed a lifetime of the charge-separated state of 0.38 seconds, a value comparable to that observed for the bacterial photosynthetic reaction center [19] In this perspective review article, we illustrate examples of porphyrinoid–fullerene conjugates reported in the literature from our and other research groups, noting all significant findings concerning the field of artificial photosynthesis. In the last part of this article (2.3), we demonstrate that the increasing number of metal–ligand coordination bonds between the porphyrins and the C60 derivatives can positively influence all the above mentioned processes
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