Capped Subporphyrins

Recent advances in subphthalocyanines and related subporphyrinoids

Subporphyrinoids constitute a class of extremely versatile and attractive compounds. Herein, a comprehensive review of the most recent advances in the fundamentals and applications of these cone-shaped aromatic macrocycles is presented.

Recent Advances in Subporphyrins and Triphyrin Analogues: Contracted Porphyrins Comprising Three Pyrrole Rings

Subporphyrinato boron (subporphyrin) was elusive until the syntheses of tribenzosubporphine in 2006 and meso-aryl-substituted subporphyrin in 2007. These novel contracted analogues possess a 14π-electron conjugated system embedded in a bowl-shaped structure. They exhibit absorption and fluorescence in the UV/vis region and nonlinear optical properties due to their octupolar structures. The unique coordination geometry around the central boron atom in the structure of subporphyrin enabled investigation of rare boron species, such as borenium cations, boron hydrides, and boron peroxides. Along with the burgeoning development of the chemistry of subporphyrins, analogous triphyrin systems have also emerged. Their rich coordination chemistry as a result of their free-base structures, which are different from the boron-coordinating structure of subporphyrins, has been intensively investigated. On the basis of the unique structures and reactivities of subporphyrins and their related triphyrin analogues, supramolecular architectures and covalently linked multicomponent systems have also been actively pursued. This Review provides an overview of the development of subporphyrin and triphyrin chemistry in the past decade and future prospects in this field, which may inspire molecular design toward applications based on their unique properties.

Probing the rotational dynamics of meso-(2-substituted)aryl substituents in A2B-type subporphyrins

A2 B-type B-methoxy subporphyrins 3 a-g and B-phenyl subporphyrins 7 a-c,e,g bearing meso-(2-substituted)aryl substituents are synthesized, and their rotational dynamics are examined through variable-temperature (VT) (1) H NMR spectroscopy. In these subporphyrins, the rotation of meso-aryl substituents is hindered by a rationally installed 2-substituent. The rotational barriers determined are considerably smaller than those reported previously for porphyrins. Comparison of the rotation activation parameters reveals a variable contribution of ΔH(≠) and ΔS(≠) in ΔG(≠). 2-Methyl and 2-ethyl groups of the meso-aryl substituents in subporphyrins 3 e, 3 f, and 7 e induce larger rotational barriers than 2-alkoxyl substituents. The rotational barriers of 3 g and 7 g are reduced by the presence of the 4-dibenzylamino group owing to its ability to stabilize the coplanar rotation transition state electronically. The smaller rotational barriers found for B-phenyl subporphyrins than for B-methoxy subporphyrins indicate a negligible contribution of SN 1-type heterolysis in the rotation of meso-aryl substituents.

Subporphyrins with an axial B-C bond

Axial fabrications of subporphyrins have been conveniently accomplished by the reaction of B(methoxo)triphenylsubporphyrin with Grignard reagents such as aryl-, heteroaryl-, ferrocenyl-, β-styryl-, phenylethynyl-, and ethylmagnesium bromides. The axial groups thus introduced are not conjugated with the subporphyrin core. This situation leads to effective fluorescence quenching of subporphyrins when the axial group is strongly electron donating such as 4-dimethylaminophenyl and ferrocenyl groups.