Affinity modulation of photoresponsive hosts for fullerenes: light-gated corannulene tweezers

Six azobenzene derivatives bearing polyaromatic fragments have been prepared and their reversible photoisomerization has been assessed. Corannulene-functionalized molecules have demonstrated excellent switchable hosting abilities towards fullerenes in which an interesting range of affinities has been found. The success of this design relies upon the reversible formation and destruction of tweezer-like structures.