Controlling charge transfer in fullerene/phthalocyanine electron donor-acceptor conjugates/hybrids

Fullerenes and phthalocyanines are ideally suited for devising integrated, multi-component model systems to transmit and process solar energy. Implementation of C 60 as a three-dimensional electron acceptor bears great promises on account of its small reorganization energy in electron transfer reactions and has exerted a noteworthy impact on the improvement of light-induced charge separation. This mini-review describes how the specific composition of phthalocyanines chromophores associated with C 60 – yielding artificial light-harvesting antenna and reaction center mimics – have been elegantly utilized to tune the electronic couplings between donor and acceptor sites. Specifically, the effects that these parameters have on the rate, yield and lifetime of the energetic charge-separated states are considered.