Supramolecular peapods composed of a metalloporphyrin nanotube and fullerenes

An acyclic dimer of a dendritic zinc porphyrin bearing six carboxylic acid functionalities (1acid) interacts with fullerenes, such as C60 and C70, to form "supramolecular peapods", composed of a hydrogen-bonded zinc porphyrin nanotube and fullerenes (3). According to TEM, the peapods are very long (>1 mum) and have a uniform diameter of 15 nm. Without fullerenes, the zinc porphyrin dimer forms only a heavily entangled, irregular assembly. In contrast with 1acid, an ester version of the acyclic dimer without hydrogen-bonding capability (1ester) hardly interacts with fullerenes.