Fullerene−Porphyrin Constructs

Peter D. W. Boyd was born in Buckinghamshire, U.K., in 1946. He received his B.Sc. from the University of Tasmania and Ph.D. from Monash University. After postdoctoral studies at the University Chemical Laboratory, Cambridge, he was awarded a Queen Elizabeth Fellowship to work at the Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University. He joined the Chemistry Department of The University of Auckland in 1978 and is currently an Associate Professor in Chemistry. His current research interests include the chemistry of porphyrins and fullerenes, their supramolecular assembly, and computational studies of the electronic structure and properties of molecules.

Christopher A. Reed was born in New Zealand in 1947 and educated at The University of Auckland. After postdoctoral studies at Stanford University, he joined the faculty at the University of Southern California in 1973. In 1998, he moved to the University of California, Riverside, as Distinguished Professor. He has been awarded Sloan, Dreyfus Teacher−Scholar, Guggenheim, and von Humboldt Fellowships. His current research interests include the chemistry of iron porphyrins, magnetochemical phenomena, framework solids, fullerenes, carborane anions, superacids, carbocations, and reactive cations across the periodic table.

Porphyrins and fullerenes are spontaneously attracted to each other. This new supramolecular recognition element can be used to construct discrete host−guest complexes, as well as ordered arrays of interleaved porphyrins and fullerenes. The fullerene−porphyrin interaction underlies successful chromatographic separations of fullerenes, and there are promising applications in the areas of porous framework solids and photovoltaic devices.