Recent advances in supramolecular fullerene chemistry

Fullerene chemistry has come a long way since 1990, when the first bulk production of C₆₀ was reported. In the past decade, progress in supramolecular chemistry has opened some remarkable and previously unexpected opportunities regarding the selective (multiple) functionalization of fullerenes and their (self)assembly into larger structures and frameworks. The purpose of this review article is to provide a comprehensive overview of these recent developments. We describe how macrocycles and cages that bind strongly to C₆₀ can be used to block undesired addition patterns and thus allow the selective preparation of single-isomer addition products. We also discuss how the emergence of highly shape-persistent macrocycles has opened opportunities for the study of photoactive fullerene dyads and triads as well as the preparation of mechanically interlocked compounds. The preparation of two- or three-dimensional fullerene materials is another research area that has seen remarkable progress over the past few years. Due to the rapidly decreasing price of C₆₀ and C₇₀, we believe that these achievements will translate into all fields where fullerenes have traditionally (third-generation solar cells) and more recently been applied (catalysis, spintronics).