Abstract A new stilbene-tethered bis (porphyrin) tweezer 5 has been synthesized through a Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction. The tweezer exists as two configurational isomers [(Z)+(E)], which have distinct cavity sizes. Fullerene-binding studies show that the (Z) isomer of the tweezer has a significantly higher affinity toward both C 60 and C 70 compared to the (E) congener. In addition, the (Z)[RIGHTWARDS ARROW](E) photoisomerization of ...