Fullerene (C 60 ), which has a spherical p-electron system, shows interesting magnetic, [1] superconductivity, [2] electrical, [3] and biochemical properties. [4] It is not surprising then that fullerenes and their derivatives have attracted a lot of attention in recent years and have been successfully applied to materials science and biological technology. However, the application of fullerenes and their derivatives has been limited, owing to their low solubility in water and other frequently used solvents. Several approaches have been explored for preparing water-soluble fullerenes, [5] such as carboxylic acid fullerene derivatives, [6] amino acid fullerene derivatives, [7] fullereneol, [8] peptide and oligonucleotide functionalized fullerene derivatives, [9] protein-fullerene conjugates, [10] pendant fullerene polymers, [11] main-chain fullerene polymers, [12] and dendrimeric fullerenes. [13] In addition, cyclodextrins and bridged bis-cyclodextrins as multifunctional molecular receptors can selectively bind a wide variety of organic, [14] inorganic, [15] and dye [16] guest molecules through hydrophobic interactions, forming host-guest inclusion complexes [17] or nanometer supramolecular assemblies. [18,19] Therefore, investigations on the molecular recognition and assembly or self-assembly of cyclodextrins and their derivatives are of current interest in chemical and biological systems. Besides, noncovalent supramolecular complexes based on cyclodextrins and fullerenes have been well documented, [20] and the obtained results indicate that watersoluble cyclodextrin-fullerene complexes show unique photophysical and biological properties. Recently, our studies indicated that the resultant complexes of bis-cyclodextrins and pharmacy molecules significantly enhance both water solubility and biological activity of fullerene derivatives. [21] Herein, we report a simple way to prepare a water-soluble fullerene assembly with a coordinated metal center through end-to-end intermolecular inclusion complexation of a dimeric cyclodextrin with a fullerene. Furthermore, the assembly behavior of this complex has been comprehensively
[*] Prof.