Since Atwood et al. and Shinkai et al. independently discovered the selective formation of a sparingly soluble C 60 /p-tBu-calix [8]arene complex in toluene in 1994, there has been an increasing interest in supramolecular fullerene chemistry because of its potential applications in chemistry, biology, and materials sciences. The design of host molecules capable of recognizing fullerenes, one of the most challenging and thrilling tasks in this field, is mainly based on the complementarity principle. The utilization of concave/ convex interaction, for example, has resulted in the emergence of a few macrocyclic [60]fullerene receptors such as calix[n]arenes, 4] homooxacalix[3]arene, [4b, 5] g-cyclodextrin (g-CD), cyclotriveratrylene (CTV), and crown ethers. Intriguingly, however, porphyrins and metalloporphyrins with planar p surfaces have also been shown to interact with the curved p surface of fullerenes, predominantly through van der Waals dispersion forces. [9] To enhance the complexation power of receptors or to increase the stability of complexes, strategies for constructing molecular clefts such as bis(calix[n]arenes) [10] and "jaws porphyrins" [11] have been successfully followed.
The past decade has seen a tremendous development in calixarene chemistry, and it has now become an indispensable part of supramolecular chemistry. While efforts are still being expended on derivatization of basic calixarene skeletons to improve their cavities and therefore their selective recognition properties towards various guest molecules, a [