An Indacenopicene-based Buckybowl Catcher for Recognition of Fullerenes

A novel buckybowl catcher with an extended π-surface has been synthesized via cross-coupling of two bowl shaped bromoindacenopicene moieties with a tolyl linker. The obtained catcher has been unambiguously characterized by 2D-NMR and mass spectrometry. DFT calculations indicate that the curved shape of the receptor moieties is favourable for binding fullerenes. Effective binding was confirmed for interactions with C₆₀ and C₇₀ utilizing NMR spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The resulting binding values show a higher affinity of the catcher towards C₇₀ over C₆₀ . The designed catcher demonstrated the fundamental possibility of creating sensors for spherical aromaticity.