A fully self-assembled non-symmetric triad for photoinduced charge separation

A very efficient and successful metal-mediated strategy towards the formation of a non-symmetric triad is described: appropriate Lewis acid and/or base functions on the molecular components (a naphthalenediimide, an aluminium(III) porphyrin, and a ruthenium(II) porphyrin) lead to the desired product uniquely. The photophysics of the triad was investigated in detail using time-resolved spectroscopy in the pico- and nanosecond time domains. The strategy is of great potential interest as, while confining the synthetic effort to the single components, it can give access to a wide range of photoactive systems.