A topologically new ruthenium porphyrin-fullerene donor-acceptor ensemble

A novel ruthenium porphyrin complex bearing an axially coordinated fullerene ligand ( RuP - C-60), that is, a fulleropyrrolidine that bears a pyridine moiety, was developed as an artificial reaction center mimic. Generally, the new donor - acceptor dyad gives rise to rapid intramolecular deactivation of the ruthenium porphyrin triplet excited state, which evolves from instantaneous intersystem crossing. The product of the ruthenium porphyrin excited- state deactivation depends on the solvent polarity. While in non- polar solvents a transduction of triplet excited energy predominates, in medium and strongly polar media, charge- separation leads to the formation of RuP (.+) - C-60(._).