Non-covalent versus covalent donor-acceptor systems based on near-infrared absorbing azulenocyanines and C60 fullerene derivatives.

A novel supramolecular electron donor-acceptor hybrid (2·1) and an electron donor-acceptor conjugate (3), both exhibiting a remarkably shifted Q band in the NIR region of the solar spectrum, were prepared. Irradiation of the supramolecular ensemble 2·1 within the visible range leads to a nanosecond lived radical-ion pair state Zn-azulenocyanine˙(+)-C(60)˙(-). This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012