A strongly emitting liquid-crystalline derivative of Y(3)N@C(80): bright and long-lived near-IR luminescence from a charge transfer state

Great balls of fire: C60 and Y3 N@C80 were connected to the same oligo(phenyleneethynylene) unit to investigate their structural and photophysical properties. NMR investigations revealed a fulleroid structure for the Y3 N@C80 derivative, and both dyads gave rise to columnar phases with core-shell cylinders. The black and gray spheres represent the fullerene core units of the Y3 N@C80 derivative, which is an ideal candidate to be involved in energy and electron transfer processes.