Synthesis 2020; 52(17): 2535-2540
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1707963
paper
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Synthesis, Photophysical and Supramolecular Properties of a π-Conjugated Molecular Crown Containing a Pentagonal Unit: A Model Compound for Fullerene C240

Qiang Huang
,
Yayu Wu
,
Yu Zhou
,
Huiqing Liu
,
Jinyi Wang
,
Shengda Wang
,
Pingwu Du
Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230026, P. R. of China   Email: dupingwu@ustc.edu.cn
› Author Affiliations
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21473170, 51772285) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFA0402800).
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 23 January 2020

Accepted after revision: 14 April 2020

Publication Date:
20 May 2020 (online)


Abstract

The total synthesis of carbon onions is a significant challenge in the fields of materials science and organic chemistry. To date, the synthesis of even a fragment of fullerene C240 and its smallest carbon onion C60@C240 remains poorly explored. Herein, we demonstrate a bottom-up strategy to produce a novel π-extended molecular crown-shaped molecule (MC3) containing curved pentagonal and hexagonal units. This molecular crown represents a curved model compound for fullerene C240 and is fully characterized by NMR, mass spectrometry, UV-vis absorption, and from its emission spectra. Its supramolecular host–guest interaction with fullerene C60 is also investigated. MC3 and C60@MC3 can potentially be employed as seeds or templates for the bottom-up synthesis of fullerene C240 and the carbon onion C60@C240, respectively.

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