The formation of supramolecular complexes between C 60 and am olecular nanographene endowed with both positive and negative curvatures is described. The presence of ac orannulene moiety and the saddle shape of the molecular nanographene allows the formation of complexes with 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1stoichiometries.The association constants for the three possible supramolecular complexes were determined by 1 HNMR titration. Furthermore,t he stability of the three complexes was calculated by theoretical methods that also predict the photoinduced electron transfer from the curved nanographene to the electron acceptor C 60 .T ime-resolved transient absorption measurements on the ns-time scale showed that the addition of C 60 to NG-1 solutions and photo-exciting them at 460 nm leads to the solvent-dependent formation of new species,i np articular the formation of the one-electron reduced form of C 60 in benzonitrile was observed.

Within the growing family of strained carbon nanohoops and nanobelts, [10]CPP arguably offers the best compromise between synthetic accessibility and strong binding affinity for C60. In this work, we report the synthesis of two nitrogen-containing analogues of [10]CPP and we systematically compare the structure, optoelectronic properties and C60 binding affinities of this small set of structurally similar macrocycles. While Aza[10]CPP outcompetes the parent compound by approximately one order of magnitude in respect to C60 binding, we found that the reverse was true for the methylaza analogue. Transient absorption studies showed that photo-induced electron transfer occurred readily from [10]CPP and its aza-analogue to an encapsulated C60 guest. Formation of a charge separated complex was not observed however for the N-methylated derivative. These insights will prove useful for further applications of strained nanohoops in supramolecular chemistry and organic electronics.

The formation of supramolecular complexes between C 60 and am olecular nanographene endowed with both positive and negative curvatures is described. The presence of ac orannulene moiety and the saddle shape of the molecular nanographene allows the formation of complexes with 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1stoichiometries.The association constants for the three possible supramolecular complexes were determined by 1 HNMR titration. Furthermore,t he stability of the three complexes was calculated by theoretical methods that also predict the photoinduced electron transfer from the curved nanographene to the electron acceptor C 60 .T ime-resolved transient absorption measurements on the ns-time scale showed that the addition of C 60 to NG-1 solutions and photo-exciting them at 460 nm leads to the solvent-dependent formation of new species,i np articular the formation of the one-electron reduced form of C 60 in benzonitrile was observed.