Photostability of a dyad of magnesium porphyrin and fullerene and its application to photocurrent conversion.

A new type of acceptor-donor(2) dyad system containing two magnesium porphyrin molecules and a fullerene molecule is much more stable than the magnesium porphyrin itself. When it is fabricated into a binary system using imidazole carboxylic acid as a linker to indium tin oxide, the molecule effects efficient photocurrent generation that surpasses the device using the corresponding zinc porphyrin.

Molecular photoelectric switch using a mixed SAM of organic [60]fullerene and [70]fullerene doped with a single iron atom.

We describe a photoswitch fabricated on indium tin oxide (ITO) as a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of two fullerene molecules, a purely organic [60]fullerene that generates an anodic current and a [70]fullerene doped with a single iron atom. This device generates a bidirectional photocurrent upon irradiation at 340 and 490 nm. The new [70]fullerene iron complex bearing three rigid carboxylic acid legs, Fe[C(70)(C(6)H(4)C(6)H(4)COOH)(3)]Cp, generates only a cathodic current upon photoexcitation between 350 and 700 nm, whereas the organic [60]fullerene absorbs at wavelengths shorter than 500 nm. The quantum efficiency of the photocurrent generation by the mixed SAM is comparable to that of a single-component SAM, indicating that the individual diode molecules on ITO generate photocurrents independently with little cross talk.

Loading pentapod deca(organo)[60]fullerenes with electron donors: from photophysics to photoelectrochemical bilayers.

A pentapod deca(aryl)[60]fullerene, C(60)(C(6)H(4)CO(2)H)(5)(C(6)H(4)Fc)(5)Me(2) (4; Fc = ferrocenyl), bearing five carboxylic acid and five ferrocenyl groups was synthesized through top and bottom functionalization of [60]fullerene by means of copper-mediated penta-addition reactions. For electrochemical measurements (i.e., E(ox) = 0.08 V, five-electron oxidation of the ferrocenyl groups; E(red) = -1.89 and -2.28 V for the fullerene part vs Fc/Fc(+)), we used an ester-protected compound, C(60)(C(6)H(4)CO(2)Et)(5)(C(6)H(4)Fc)(5)Me(2) (2), and 4 was probed by performing femtosecond flash photolysis experiments in a variety of organic solvents. Importantly, the formation of a radical ion pair state was corroborated with lifetimes of up to 333 ps in toluene. In complementary studies, penta(carboxylic acid)-penta(ferrocenyl) compound 4 was deposited on indium-tin oxide (ITO) electrodes with a surface coverage (i.e., 0.14 nmol/cm(2)) that corresponded to a unique bilayer structure. Decisive for the bilayer motif is the presence of five ferrocenyl groups, which are assembled with a merry-go-round-shaped arrangement on the [60]fullerene. The novel 4/ITO photoelectrode gave rise to a cathodic photocurrent with a 12% quantum yield in the presence of methyl viologen, whereas an anodic photocurrent was generated in the presence of ascorbic acid for a C(60)(C(6)H(4)CO(2)H)(5)(C(6)H(5))(5)Me(2) (5)/ITO photoelectrode. Photophysical investigations revealed that the difference in photocurrent, that is, cathodic versus anodic photocurrents, is related to the nature of the excited state feature in 4 (i.e., charge separated state) and 5 (i.e., triplet excited state). The unique molecular architecture of 4, in combination with its remarkable donor-acceptor properties, validates the use of the pentapod deca(aryl)[60]fullerene in photoelectrochemically active molecular devices.