An Indacenopicene‐based Buckybowl Catcher for Recognition of Fullerenes
Barbara Scholz, Aleksandr S. Oshchepkov, Olena Papaianina, Cordula Ruppenstein, Vladimir Akhmetov, Dmitry Sharapa, Konstantin Amsharov, M. Eugenia Pérez‐Ojeda
Abstract
Abstract 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 C 60 and C 70 utilizing NMR spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The resulting binding values show a higher affinity of the catcher towards C 70 over C 60 . The designed catcher demonstrated the fundamental possibility of creating sensors for spherical aromaticity.