Synthesis of a Tetracorannulene-perylenediimide That Acts as a Selective Receptor for C60 over C70.

We report the use of a tetraborylated perylenediimide as starting material for the preparation of a tetracorannulene-perylenediimide that is able to bind up to two fullerene-C60 molecules by host-guest molecular recognition with preference over C70. Titration with fullerene-C60 is followed by a dramatic shift of the aromatic signals in 1H NMR and an initial increase in the fluorescence of the system. By this simple mechanism, fluorogenic sensing of fullerene-C60 is easily accomplished by an unprecedented fluorescent turn-on mechanism.