Photo-induced electron and energy transfer in non-covalently bonded supramolecular assemblies

Covalently linked chromophore–quencher complexes are widespread in the area of transition-metal photochemistry and as models for photosynthesis. This review surveys recent examples of supramolecular complexes in which interacting chromophore and quencher fragments are instead held together by non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, aromatic π-stacking, hydrophobic interactions and labile metal–ligand coordinate bonds. The use of these methods to assemble multi-component photo-active complexes has led to the preparation of many highly sophisticated systems for energy transfer or charge separation which would not be accessible by ‘conventional’ synthetic methodology.