25th Anniversary Article: 25 Years of Fullerene Research in Electron Transfer Chemistry

Abstract

The past 25 years have served as a test bed for exploring the chemistry and physics, in general, and the electron transfer chemistry, in particular, of low-dimensional carbon. Nevertheless, the new realm started with the advent of fullerenes, followed in chronological order by carbon nanotubes, and, more recently, by graphene. The major thrust of this Review article is to historically recap the versatility of fullerenes regarding the design, the synthesis, and the tests as an electroactive building block in photosynthetic reaction mimics, photovoltaics, and catalysis.

A multicomponent molecular approach to artificial photosynthesis – the role of fullerenes and endohedral metallofullerenes

“…typically function as electron acceptors. 36 This has changed with the advent of endohedral metallofullerenes (EMF), which exhibit amphoteric redox properties, that is, serving as the electron donor or acceptor.…”

Building blocks for bioinspired electrets: molecular-level approach to materials for energy and electronics

“…At a cellular level, CT is responsible for a range of chemical and biochemical transformations, and is essential for life on Earth to exist [1][2][3][4][5]. In addition to its vital role in living systems, CT resides at the heart of energy conversion, transduction and storage [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13], and provides signal transduction for devices integral to our modern lifestyles [14,15]. For more than a century, the key importance of CT has sustained the ever-growing scientific interest in it.…”

Synthesis and photophysical properties of new catenated electron donor–acceptor materials with magnesium and free base porphyrins as donors and C60as the acceptor

“…28, 29 Marcus theory 30,31 predicts that small values of λ will shift the back ET into the so-called Marcus inverted region, where higher values of the exergonic free energy for back ET are accompanied by slower rates for the process, as is the case in natural photosynthesis. 2,[32][33][34] It is well established that long lived CSS are observed for a large variety of materials, in which C 60 is the electron acceptor in electron donor-acceptor systems, in which porphyrins, phthalocyanines and other electron donors are linked either covalently 35 or mechanically [20][21][22][23][24][25][26] to C 60 .…”