Four-Coordinate, Low-Spin (S = 0) and Six-Coordinate, High-Spin (S = 1) Nickel(II) Complexes of Tetraphenylporphyrins with beta-Pyrrole Electron-Withdrawing Substituents: Porphyrin-Core Expansion and Conformation

Origin of the Enhanced Binding Capability toward Axial Nitrogen Bases of Ni(II) Porphyrins Bearing Electron-Withdrawing Substituents: An Electronic Structure and Bond Energy Analysis

Axial coordination to metalloporphyrins is important in many biological and catalytic processes. Experiments found the axial coordination of nitrogenous bases to nickel(II) porphyrins to be strongly favored by electron-withdrawing substituents such as perfluorophenyls at the meso carbon positions. Careful analysis of the electronic structure reveals that the natural explanation in terms of density change of the nickel(II) porphyrin system (in particular the metal), does not apply. Electron density changes, by the assumed inductive or polarizing effects on the metal or on the porphyrin ring system, are slight. The effect is caused by a remarkable through-space electric field effect on the metalloporphyrin system, originating from the charge distribution inside the perfluorphenyl groups (mostly the C-F dipoles).

Synthesis of Double-Bridged Cofacial Nickel Porphyrin Dimers with 2,2'-Bipyridyl Pillars and Their Restricted Coordination Space

Double-bridged cofacial Ni porphyrin dimers 2 with 2,2'-bipyridyl pillars were effectively prepared by a one-step reductive homocoupling reaction of bis(chloropyridyl)-substituted Ni porphyrin derivatives followed by a specific separation of a cyanopropyl-modified silica gel column using pyridine eluent systems. The structural analyses of 2 and its Pd complex were carried out in their solid and solution states by means of X-ray single crystal analysis and NMR, respectively. The complexation of η³-allylpalladium chloride (Pd) with 2 on the spatially restricted 2,2-bipyridine moieties on 2 gave a 2:1 (Pd:2) complex, in which the 2,2'-bipyridine ligands only provided one of the N atoms on a 2,2'-bipyridine ligand to a Pd. Therefore, the 2,2-bipyridine moieties acted as a monodentate ligand.

Reversible coordination-induced spin-state switching in complexes on metal surfaces

Molecular spin switches are attractive candidates for controlling the spin polarization developing at the interface between molecules and magnetic metal surfaces^1,2, which is relevant for molecular spintronics devices^3-5. However, so far, intrinsic spin switches such as spin-crossover complexes have suffered from fragmentation or loss of functionality following adsorption on metal surfaces, with rare exceptions^6-9. Robust metal-organic platforms, on the other hand, rely on external axial ligands to induce spin switching^10-14. Here we integrate a spin switching functionality into robust complexes, relying on the mechanical movement of an axial ligand strapped to the porphyrin ring. Reversible interlocked switching of spin and coordination, induced by electron injection, is demonstrated on Ag(111) for this class of compounds. The stability of the two spin and coordination states of the molecules exceeds days at 4 K. The potential applications of this switching concept go beyond the spin functionality, and may turn out to be useful for controlling the catalytic activity of surfaces¹⁵.

Fractional transfer of a free unpaired electron to overcome energy barriers in the formation of Fe(4+) from Fe(3+) during the core contraction of macrocycles: implication for heme distortion

The free unpaired electron in Fe(3+) ions cannot be directly removed, and needs a transfer pathway with at least four steps to overcome the high energy barriers to form Fe(4+) ions. Fine changes in the electronic structure of Fe(3+) ions on spin conversion were identified through a deeper analysis of the diffraction, spectral and electrochemical data for six non-planar iron porphyrins. Fe(3+) ions can form four d electron tautomers as the compression of the central ion is increased. This indicates that the Fe(3+) ion undergoes a multistep electron transfer where the total energy gap of electron transfer is split into several smaller gaps to form high-valent Fe(4+) ions. We find that the interchange of these four electron tautomers is clearly related to the core size of the macrocycle in the current series. The large energy barrier to produce iron(iv) complexes is overcome through a gradient effect of multiple energy levels. In addition, a possible porphyrin Fe(3+)˙ radical may be formed from its stable isoelectronic form, porphyrin Fe(3+), under strong core contraction. These results indicate the important role of heme distortion in its catalytic oxidation functions.

Mono- and tri-β-substituted unsymmetrical metalloporphyrins: synthesis, structural, spectral and electrochemical properties

Mono-/tri-β-substituted metalloporphyrins have been synthesized and characterized. Dramatic reduction in the HOMO–LUMO gap with tunable electronic, spectral and electrochemical redox potentials were observed as the number of electron withdrawing groups increased.

Ligand coordination and spin crossover in a nickel porphyrin anchored to mesoporous TiO2 thin films

The coordination and spin equilibrium of a Ni(II) meso-tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin compound, NiP, was quantified both in fluid solution and when anchored to mesoporous, nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films. This comparison provides insights into the relative rate constants for excited-state injection and ligand field population. In the presence of pyridine, the spectroscopic data were consistent with the presence of equilibrium concentrations of a 4-coordinate low-spin S = 0 ((1)A1g) Ni(II) compound and a high-spin S = 1 ((3)B1g) 6-coordinate compound. Temperature-dependent equilibrium constants were consistently smaller for the surface-anchored NiP/TiO2, as were the absolute values of ΔH and ΔS. In the presence of diethylamine (DEA), the ground-state 6-coordinate compound was absent, but evidence for it was present after pulsed light excitation of NiP. Arrhenius analysis of data, measured from -40 to -10 °C, revealed activation energies for ligand dissociation that were the same for the compound in fluid solution and anchored to TiO2, Ea = 6.6 kcal/mol, within experimental error. At higher temperatures, a significantly smaller activation energy of 3.5 kcal/mol was found for NiP(DEA)2/TiO2. A model is proposed wherein the TiO2 surface sterically hinders ligand coordination to NiP. The lack of excited-state electron transfer from Ni(II)P*/TiO2 indicates that internal conversion to ligand field states was at least 10 times greater than that of excited-state injection into TiO2.

Effect of β-bromo substitution on the photophysical properties of meso-phenyl, meso-carbazole, and meso-triphenylamine porphyrins

We present results of an experimental photophysical study of a series of novel brominated and non-brominated porphyrins that contain phenyl, carbazole, or triphenylamine in the meso-position. In addition we have looked at the effects of incorporating a zinc metal into the porphyrin system relative to the free base. Structure-property relationships are established using various absorption and emission techniques including femtosecond pump probe transient absorption and nanosecond laser flash photolysis. With slightly increasing electron donating strength (phenyl < carbazole < triphenylamine) red shifts were observed in all data. The same effect was observed upon the addition of bromine in the beta position. Due to the heavy atom affect of the bromines both the singlet and triplet excited state lifetimes were significantly shorter in the brominated porphyrins. For the T1–Tn absorption data we observe a large absorption in the near infrared region with the brominated carbazole and triphenylamine. The largest effect of the addition of zinc was in the ground state absorption and emission where a blue shift in the data was observed. Some effects were also observed in the kinetic decays with zinc as the metal compared to the free base porphyrins.

Tetrakis(selenodiazole)porphyrazines. 2: Metal complexes with Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II)

The present report describes two series of new porphyrazine macrocycles derived from tetrakis(selenodiazole)porphyrazine, TSeDPzH 2, having the formulae [ TSeDPzM ]( CH 3 COOH )( H 2 O )x M = Mn (II), Co (II), Ni (II), Zn (II); x = 4–6) and [ TSeDPzM ( py )]( CH 3 COOH )( H 2 O )x ( M = Mn (II), Co (II), Ni (II); x = 1–5), obtained by reaction of the free ligand with the appropriate metal acetate in dimethyl (DMSO), and, respectively, pyridine. All the species isolated are stable-to-air substantially amorphous materials, almost completely insoluble in the usual organic solvents and N -donors (pyridine etc.), and only slightly soluble in CF3COOH or 96% H 2 SO 4. The complexes have been investigated by IR, Raman, and UV-vis spectra, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. Their properties in terms of electronic structure and reactivity towards N -bases are discussed in comparison with their S-containing analogs and the class of the structurally similar metal phthalocyanines.

Unusual solvent dependent electronic absorption spectral properties of nickel(II) and copper(II) perhaloporphyrins

Electronic absorption spectra of divalent metal ( Ni (II) and Cu (II)) complexes of 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octa(bromo/chloro)-5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrins (MOXTPP; X = Br , Cl ) were examined in various solvents. M (II) perhaloporphyrins exhibited dramatic shifts in their optical absorption spectral features relative to the corresponding metallotetraphenylporphyrins, MTPPs. Copper(II) perhaloporphyrins show significant red-shifts of the absorption bands in coordinating solvents relative to that observed for nickel(II) perhaloporphyrins. The large red-shift of the electronic absorption bands and the gain in intensity of the longest wavelength band (Q(0,0)), of Cu (II) perhaloporphyrins in certain coordinating solvents is comparable to that found in meso-tetraphenylporphinatozinc(II), ZnTPP. The solvent dependent spectral features of M (II) perhaloporphyrins are attributed to a coordinative interaction of the solvent with the core metal ion induced by the electron deficient porphyrin macrocycle.

Mixed substituted porphyrins: structural and electrochemical redox properties

To examine the influence of mixed substituents on the structural, electrochemical redox behavior of porphyrins, two new classes of beta-pyrrole mixed substituted free-base tetraphenylporphyrins H2(TPP(Ph)4X4) (X = CH3, H, Br, Cl, CN) and H2(TPP(CH3)4X4) (X = H, Ph, Br, CN) and their metal (M = Ni(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II)) complexes have been synthesized effectively using the modified Suzuki cross-coupling reactions. Optical absorption spectra of these porphyrins showed significant red-shift with the variation of X in H2(TPPR4X4), and they induce a 20-30 nm shift in the B band and a 25-100 nm shift in the longest wavelength band [Q(x)(0,0)] relative to the corresponding H2TPPR4 (R = CH3, Ph) derivatives. Crystal structure of a highly sterically crowded Cu(TPP(Ph)4(CH3)4).2CHCl3 complex shows a combination of ruffling and saddling of the porphyrin core while the Zn(TPP(Ph)4Br4(CH3OH)).CH3OH structure exhibits predominantly saddling of the macrocycle. Further, the six-coordinated Ni(TPP(Ph)4(CN)4(Py)2).2(Py) structure shows nearly planar geometry of the porphyrin ring with the expansion of the core. Electrochemical redox behavior of the MTPPR4X4 compounds exhibit dramatic cathodic shift in first ring oxidation potentials (300-500 mV) while the reduction potentials are marginally cathodic in contrast to their corresponding MTPPX4 (X = Br, CN) derivatives. The redox potentials were analyzed using Hammett plots, and the highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) gap decreases with an increase in the Hammett parameter of the substituents. Electronic absorption spectral bands of H2TPPR4X4 are unique that their energy lies intermediate to their corresponding data for the H2(TPPX8) (X = CH3, Ph, Br, Cl) derivatives. The dramatic variation in redox potentials and large red-shift in the absorption bands in mixed substituted porphyrins have been explained on the basis of the nonplanarity of the macrocycle and substituent effects.

Energetics and structural consequences of axial ligand coordination in nonplanar nickel porphyrins

The effects of ruffling on the axial ligation properties of a series of nickel(II) tetra(alkyl)porphyrins have been investigated with UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, resonance Raman spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, classical molecular mechanics calculations, and normal-coordinate structural decomposition analysis. For the modestly nonplanar porphyrins, porphyrin ruffling is found to cause a decrease in binding affinity for pyrrolidine and piperidine, mainly caused by a decrease in the binding constant for addition of the first axial ligand; ligand binding is completely inhibited for the more nonplanar porphyrins. The lowered affinity, resulting from the large energies required to expand the core and flatten the porphyrin to accommodate the large high-spin nickel(II) ion, has implications for nickel porphyrin-based molecular devices and the function of heme proteins and methyl-coenzyme M reductase.

Equilibrium Studies in Solution Involving Nickel(II) Complexes of Flexidentate Schiff Base Ligands: Isolation and Structural Characterization of the Planar Red and Octahedral Green Species Involved in the Equilibrium

Three new flexidentate 5-substituted salicylaldimino Schiff base ligands (L1-OH-L3-OH) based on 1-(2-aminoethyl)piperazine (X=H, L1-OH; X=NO2, L2-OH; and X=Br, L3-OH) and their nickel(II) complexes (1a, 1b, 2, and 3) have been reported. The piperazinyl arm of these ligands can in principle have both boat and chair conformations that allow the ligands to bind the Ni(II) center in an ambidentate manner, forming square-planar and/or octahedral complexes. The nature of substitution in the salicylaldehyde aromatic ring and the type of associated anion in the complexes have profound influences on the coordination geometry of the isolated products. With the parent ligand L1-OH, the product obtained is either a planar red compound [Ni(L1-O)]+, isolated as tetraphenylborate salt (1a), or an octahedral green compound [Ni(L1-NH)(H2O)3](2+), isolated with sulfate anion (1b); both have been crystallographically characterized. In aqueous solution, both these planar (S=0) and octahedral (S=1) forms are in equilibrium that has been followed in the temperature range 298-338 K by 1H NMR technique using the protocol of Evans's method. The large exothermicity of the equilibrium process [Ni(L1-O)]+ + 3H2O + H+<=>[Ni(L1-NH)(H2O)3](2+) (DeltaH degrees=-46 +/- 0.2 kJ mol(-1) and DeltaS degrees=-133 +/- 5 J K(-1) mol(-1)) reflects formation of three new Ni-OH2 bonds in going from planar to the octahedral species. With the 5-nitro derivative ligand L2-OH, the sole product is an octahedral compound 2, isolated as a sulfate salt while with the bromo derivative ligand L3-OH, the exclusive product is a planar molecule 3 with associated tetraphenylborate anion. Both 2 and 3 have been structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis.

Synthesis, crystal structures, and redox potentials of 2,3,12,13-tetrasubstituted 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin zinc(II) complexes

Zinc(II) complexes of antipodal beta-tetrasubstituted meso-tetraphenylporphyrin with trifluoromethyl (Zn(TPP(CF(3))(4)) (1a)), bromine (Zn(TPPBr(4)) (2a)), and methyl groups (Zn(TPP(CH(3))(4)) (3a)) were synthesized in order to examine the steric and the electronic effects of trifluoromethyl groups on the macrocycle. The analysis of X-ray crystal structures of the five-coordinate complexes Zn(TPP(CF(3))(4))(EtOH)(3) (1b), Zn(TPPBr(4))(MeOH)(DMF) (2b), and Zn(TPP(CH(3))(4))(THF)(1.6)(CHCl(3))(0.4) (3b) revealed distorted macrocyclic cores where significant differences in the Zn-N distance between the beta-substituted and the non-beta-substituted side were observed. The difference was significant in 1b due to the strong steric interactions among the peripheral substituents and the electronic effects of trifluoromethyl groups. The macrocycles of 1b-3b are saddle-distorted and slightly ruffled due to the five-coordination of zinc(II) and the peripheral substitution. Distortion of the macrocycles of 2b and 3b were modest. On the other hand, distortion in 1b was severe due to the peripheral strain. Cyclic voltammetric measurements of the four-coordinate complexes Zn(TPP) and 1a-3a were performed and their redox potentials were analyzed together with previously reported potentials of Zn(TPP(CN)(4)). The oxidation potential of 1a did not gain as much as expected from the electron-withdrawing effect of the four trifluoromethyl groups. The HOMO-LUMO gap of 1a was very small (1.5 V) and cannot just be explained by macrocyclic distortion. The magnitude of this gap is very similar to that of Zn(TPP(CN)(4)). Compound 2a also exhibited a modest gap contraction. Compound 3a was easier to oxidize and harder to reduce than Zn(TPP), even though the HOMO-LUMO gap of 3a was similar to that of Zn(TPP).

Structural trends in first-row transition-metal bis(benzimidazole) complexes

Dimethyl-substituted bis(benzimidazole) (Me2BBZ) is a novel macrocyclic ligand that possesses an intrinsic nonplanarity. To examine how metal-ion binding affects the magnitude of this nonplanarity, we have determined the structures of a periodic series of Me2BBZ complexes bound to Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II). These studies demonstrate that the extent of ligand ruffling and metal doming is indeed influenced by the nature of the metal. Concomitant with the periodic decrease of the ionic radii of the encapsulated divalent metal ion, a decrease in the magnitude of both the ligand nonplanarity and the metal out-of-the-plane distance is observed. For the metal out-of-the-plane distance, this correlation persists until the metal finally moves into the mean ligand plane. For the nonplanar distortion, the extent of the nonplanarity decreases to a limiting value that is intrinsic to the Me2BBZ ligand due to steric factors. These observations indicate that the relative sizes of the metal ion and the Me2BBZ ligand cavity have profound effects on the structural features of the metal-ligand complex.