Spin-Flip via Subtle Electronic Perturbation in Axially Ligated Diiron(III) Porphyrin Dimer.

Spin state switching in the metal center is a crucial phenomenon in many enzymatic reactions in biology. The spin state alteration, a critical step in cytochrome P450 catalysis, is driven most likely through a weak perturbation upon substrate binding in the enzyme, which is still not well clarified. In the current work, the spin state transition of iron(III) from high to intermediate via an admixed state is observed upon a subtle electronic perturbation to the sulphonate moieties coordinated axially to a diiron(III)porphyrin dimer. While electron-donating substituents stabilize the high-spin state of iron(III), strongly electron-withdrawing groups stabilize an intermediate-spin state, whereas the moderate electron-withdrawing nature of axial ligands resulted in an admixed state. Confirmation of the molecular structures and their spin states have been made utilizing single-crystal X-ray structure analysis, Mössbauer, magnetic, EPR, and 1H NMR spectroscopic investigations. The position of the signals of the porphyrin macrocycle in the paramagnetic 1H NMR is found to be very characteristic of the spin state of the iron center in solution. The Curie plot for the pure high-spin complexes shows the signals' temperature dependency in line with the Curie law. Conversely, the pure intermediate-spin state of iron exhibits an anti-Curie temperature dependence, whereas the admixed-spin state of iron displays significant curvature of the lines in the Curie plot. An extensive DFT analysis displays a linear dependence between the energy difference between d x 2 - y 2 ${{_{x{^{2}}- y{^{2}}}}}$ and d z 2 ${{_{z{^{2}}}}}$ orbital versus Fe-Npor distance for the complexes reported here. Furthermore, a strong linear correlation between the Fe-O distance and the spin density over the oxygen atom, as well as the Fe-Npor distance for the complexes, has been observed. Thus, a slight electronic perturbation at the axial ligand of the diheme resulted in a large change in the electronic structures with a spin-flip. This is at par with the metalloenzymes, which employ minute perturbations around the periphery of the active sites, leading to spin state transitions.

Metal vs Ligand Oxidation: Coexistence of Both Metal-Centered and Ligand-Centered Oxidized Species.

A series of two-electron-oxidized cobalt porphyrin dimers have been synthesized upon controlled oxidations using halogens. Rather unexpectedly, X-ray structures of two of these complexes contain two structurally different low-spin molecules in the same asymmetric unit of their unit cells: one is the metal-centered oxidized diamagnetic entity of the type CoIII(por), while the other one is the ligand-centered oxidized paramagnetic entity of the type CoII(por•+). Spectroscopic, magnetic, and DFT investigations confirmed the coexistence of the two very different electronic structures both in the solid and solution phases and also revealed a ferromagnetic spin coupling between Co(II) and porphyrin π-cation radicals and a weak antiferromagnetic coupling between the π-cation radicals of two macrocycles via the bridge in the paramagnetic complex.

Unusual Stabilisation of Remarkably Bent Tetra-Cationic Tetra-radical Intermolecular Fe(III) µ-Oxo Tetranuclear Complexes.

A hitherto unknown series of air stable, π-conjugated, remarkably bent tetra-cation tetra-radical intermolecular Fe(III) µ-oxo tetranuclear complex, isolated from the dication diradical diiron(III) porphyrin dimers, has been synthesised and spectroscopically characterised along with single crystal X-ray structure determination of two such molecules. These species facilitate long-range charge/radical delocalisation through the bridge across the entire tetranuclear unit manifesting an unusually intense NIR band. Assorted spin states of Fe(III) centres are stabilised within these unique tetranuclear frameworks: terminal six-coordinate iron centres stabilise the admixed intermediate spin states while the central five-coordinate iron centres stabilise the high-spin states. Variable temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements indicated strong antiferromagnetic coupling for the Fe(III)-O-Fe(III) unit while the exchange interactions between the Fe centres and the porphyrin π-cation radicals are weaker as supported both by magnetic data and DFT calculations. The nature of orbital overlap between the SOMOs of Fe(III) and π* orbital of the porphyrin was found to rationalise the observed exchange coupling, establishing such a complex magnetic exchange in this tetranuclear model with a significant bioinorganic relevance.

Stable Dication Diradicals of Triply Fused Metallo Chlorin-Porphyrin Heterodimers: Impact of the Bridge on the Control of Spin Coupling to Reactivity.

We report an unexpected rearrangement, controlled by the nature of the bridge, leading to the formation of novel, remarkably stable triply fused dinickel(II)/dicopper(II) chlorin-porphyrin dication diradical heterodimers in excellent yields. Here, a dipyrromethene bridge gets completely fused between two porphyrin macrocycles with two new C-C and one C-N bonds. The two macrocycles exhibit extensive π-conjugation through the bridge, which results in an antiferromagnetic coupling between the two π-cation radicals. In addition, the macrocyclic distortion also favours a rare intramolecular ferromagnetic interaction between the CuII and π-cation radical spins to form a triplet state. The structural and electronic perturbation in the unconjugated dication diradical possibly enables the bridging pyrrolic nitrogen to undergo a nucleophilic attack at the nearby ß-carbon of the porphyrin π-cation radical with a computed free energy barrier of >20 kcal mol-1 which was supplied in the form of reflux condition to initiate such a rearrangement process. UV-vis, EPR and ESI-MS spectroscopies were used to monitor the rearrangement process in situ in order to identify the key reactive intermediates leading to such an unusual transformation.

Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions Trigger Induction of Chirality via Formation of a Cyclic Dimer.

A rationalization for the chirality transfer mechanism in the supramolecular host-guest assemblies of an achiral Zn(II) porphyrin dimer (host) and a series of chiral diamines and diamino esters (substrates) via cyclic dimer formation has been reported for the first time. Stepwise formations of 2:2 host-guest cyclic dimers and 1:2 host-guest monomeric complexes have been observed via intermolecular assembling and disassembling processes. A large bisignate CD couplet was observed for the cyclic dimer, whereas the monomeric complexes exhibited negligible CD intensity. Crystallographic characterizations demonstrate that the strong intermolecular H bonding in cyclic dimers is responsible for their stability over the linear chain, which thereby display high-intensity bisignate CD couplets. In order to minimize the steric crowding within the host-guest assembly, the cyclic dimer switches its helicity toward the conformer having less steric hindrance. The cyclic scaffold is oriented according to the pre-existing chirality of the substrate in both the solid and solution phases: the substrates having R chirality display a negative CD couplet, whereas the substrates with S chirality display a positive couplet. Opposite signs for the CD couplets between R and S substrates suggest that the stereographic projection at the chiral centers solely dictates the overall helicity of the cyclic dimer. DFT studies further support the experimental observations.

Highly Oxidized Cobalt Porphyrin Dimer: Control of Spin Coupling via a Bridge.

A cobalt porphyrin dimer is constructed in which two Co(II)porphyrins are connected covalently through a redox-active diethylpyrrole moiety via a flexible but "nonconjugated" methylene bridge. Upon oxidation with even a mild oxidant such as iodine, each cobalt(II) center and porphyrin ring undergo 1e- oxidation, leading to the formation of a 4e--oxidized cobalt(III)porphyrin dication diradical complex. Other oxidants such as Cl2 and Br2 also produce similar results. To stabilize such highly oxidized dication diradicals, the "nonconjugated" methylene spacer undergoes a facile and spontaneous oxidation to form a methine group with a drastic structural change, thereby making the bridge fully π-conjugated and enabling through-bond communication. This results in a strong spin coupling between two π-cation radicals which stabilizes the singlet state. The experimental observations are also strongly supported by extensive density functional theory calculations. The present study highlights the crucial role played by the nature of the bridge in the long-range electronic communication.

Long-Range Intramolecular Spin Coupling through a Redox-Active Bridge upon Stepwise Oxidations: Control and Effect of Metal Ions.

Dinickel(II) and dicopper(II) porphyrin dimers have been constructed in which two metalloporphyrin units are widely separated by a long unconjugated dipyrrole bridge. Two macrocycles are aligned somewhat orthogonally to each other, while oxidation of the bridge generates a fully π-conjugated butterfly-like structure, which, in turn, upon stepwise oxidations by stronger oxidants result in the formation of the corresponding one- and two-electron-oxidized species exhibiting unusual long-range charge/radical delocalization to produce intense absorptions in the near-infrared (NIR) region and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signals of a triplet state due to interaction between the unpaired spins on the Cu(II) ions. Although the two metal centers have a large physical separation through the bridge (more than 16 Å), they share electrons efficiently between them, behaving as a single unit rather than two independent centers. Detailed UV-vis-NIR, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, IR, variable-temperature magnetic study, and EPR spectroscopic investigations along with X-ray structure determination of unconjugated, conjugated, and one electron-oxidized complexes have been exploited to demonstrate the long-range electronic communication through the bridge. The experimental observations are also supported by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT calculations. The present study highlights the crucial roles played by a redox-active bridge and metal in controlling the long-range electronic communication.

Through Bridge Spin Coupling in Homo- and Heterobimetallic Porphyrin Dimers upon Stepwise Oxidations: A Spectroscopic and Theoretical Investigation.

We have described copper(II)-iron(III) and copper(II)-manganese(III) heterobimetallic porphyrin dimers and compared them with the corresponding homobimetallic analogs. UV-visible spectra are very distinct in the heterometallic species while electrochemical studies demonstrate that these species, as compared to the homobimetallic analog, are much easier to oxidize. Combined Mössbauer, EPR, NMR, magnetic and UV-visible spectroscopic studies show that upon 2e-oxidation of the heterobimetallic complexes only ring-centered oxidation occurs. The energy differences between HOMO and LUMO are linearly dependent with the low-energy NIR band obtained for the 2e-oxidized complexes. Also, strong electronic communication between two porphyrin rings through the bridge facilitates coupling between various unpaired spins present while the coupling model depends on the nature of metal ions used. While unpaired spins of Fe(III) and the porphyrin π-cation radical are strongly antiferromagnetically coupled, such coupling is rather weak between Mn(III) and a porphyrin π-cation radical. Moreover, the coupling between two π-cation radicals are much stronger in the 2e-oxidized complexes of dimanganese(III) and copper(II)-manganese(III) porphyrin dimers as compared to their diiron(III) and copper(II)-iron(III) analogs. Furthermore, coupling between the unpaired spins of a π-cation radical and copper(II) is much stronger in the 2e-oxidized complex of copper(II)-iron(III) porphyrin dimer as compared to its copper(II)-manganese(III) analog. The Mulliken spin density distributions in 2e-oxidized homo- and heterobimetallic complexes show symmetric and asymmetric spread between the two macrocycles, respectively. In both the 2e-oxidized heterobimetallic complexes, the Cu(II) porphyrin center acts as a charge donor while Fe(III)/Mn(III) porphyrin center act as a charge acceptor. The experimental observations are also strongly supported by DFT calculations.

Ferromagnetic Coupling in Oxidovanadium(IV)-Porphyrin Radical Dimers.

Three different oxidovanadium(IV) porphyrin dimers with anti, cis, and trans arrangements of the two rings have been synthesized by changing the bridge between the porphyrin macrocycles. This provides a unique opportunity to investigate the role of the bridge and spatial arrangement between the two VIVO centers for their electronic communication and magnetic coupling. They were characterized by the combined application of XRD analysis, UV-vis and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, magnetic susceptibility, and DFT calculations. One- and two-electron oxidations produce mono- and dication diradical species, respectively, which display an unusual ferromagnetic interaction between the unpaired spins of vanadium(IV) and porphyrin π-cation radical, in contrast to other metalloporphyrin dimers. The oxidized species show a dissimilar behavior between cis and trans isomers. The ferromagnetic coupling occurs between the porphyrin π-cation radical and the unpaired electron of the VIVO ion on the dxy orbital, orthogonal to the porphyrin-based molecular orbitals a1u and a2u.

Heme-Heme Interactions in Diheme Cytochromes: Effect of Mixed-Axial Ligation on the Electronic Structure and Electrochemical Properties.

Diheme cytochromes, the simplest members in the multiheme family, play substantial biochemical roles in enzymatic catalysis as well as in electron transfer. A series of diiron(III) porphyrin dimers have been synthesized as active site analogues of diheme cytochromes. The complexes contain six-coordinated iron(III) having thiophenol and imidazole at the fifth and sixth coordination sites, respectively. The iron centers in the complexes have been found to be in a low-spin state, as confirmed through solid-state Mössbauer and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopic investigations. Mössbauer quadrupole splitting of complexes having mixed ligands is substantially larger than that observed when both axial ligands are the same. Rhombic types of EPR spectra with narrow separation between gx, gy, and gz clearly distinguish heme thiolate coordination compared to bis(imidazole)-ligated low-spin heme centers. The redox potential in diheme cytochromes has been found to be tuned by interheme interactions along with the nature of axial ligands. The effect of mixed-axial ligation within the diiron(III) porphyrin dimers is demonstrated by a positive shift in the Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couple upon thiophenolate coordination compared to their bis(imidazole) analogues. The pKa of the imidazole also decides the extent of the shift for the Fe(III)/Fe(II) couple, while the potential of the mixed-ligated diiron(III) porphyrin dimer is more positive compared to their monomeric analogue. A variation of around 1.1 V for the Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox potential in the diiron(III) porphyrin dimer can be achieved with the combined effect of axial ligation and a metal spin state, while such a large variation in the redox potential, compared to their monomeric analogues, is attributed to the heme-heme interactions observed in dihemes. Moreover, theoretical calculations also support the experimental shifts in the redox potential values.

Intermacrocyclic Interactions upon Stepwise Oxidations in a Monometallic Porphyrin Dimer: Ring versus Metal-Center Oxidations and Effect of Counter Anions.

The effect of intermacrocyclic interactions was studied by controlled and stepwise oxidations of a monometallic silver(II) porphyrin dimer that contains a highly flexible ethane bridge. Monometallic dimers are unique systems and behave differently from their dimetallic analogues on the basis of their available sites for storing oxidizing equivalents. UV-visible spectrometry, 1 H NMR spectroscopy, XPS and single crystal X-ray diffraction studies clearly suggest the removal of the first electron from the metal center. The removal of the second electron occurred from the ring center to form a π-cation radical and, thereby, form a very unique mixed-valent species. However, unlike in all other ethane-bridged metalloporphyrin dimers reported earlier, the 2e-oxidized species showed quite unusual structures depending on the nature of counter ions. Ions, such as SbF6 , SbCl6 and PF6 , are engaged in strong interactions with the porphyrin π-cation radical and causes substantial structural changes, including large deformation of the ring. The solid-state structure remains intact in solution as well. The observations are further supported by DFT calculations.

Stepwise Oxidations in a Cofacial Copper(II) Porphyrin Dimer: Through-Space Spin-Coupling and Interplay between Metal and Radical Spins.

cis and trans-copper(II) porphyrin dimers have been synthesized, in which two CuII porphyrin macrocycles are bridged through a rigid ethene linker for possible through-space and through-bond spin-couplings between the paramagnetic CuII centers. It has been found that the two macrocycles come closer after 1 e- oxidation, however, they move far apart upon further 1 e- oxidation leading to transformation of the cis to the trans isomer. Detailed investigations are performed here on the interactions between the two porphyrin macrocycles, between two unpaired spins of closely spaced CuII centers, and also between the unpaired spins of metal and porphyrin π-cation radicals. Spectroscopic investigations along with the X-ray structure of the 2 e- -oxidized complex displayed strong electronic communications through the bridge between two porphyrin π-cation radicals. The counterion I9 - is stabilized in an unusual trigonal-pyramidal structure in the 2 e- -oxidized complex in which the central iodide ion is bound with four iodine (I2 ) molecules. Variable-temperature magnetic study revealed strong antiferromagnetic coupling between the two porphyrin π-cation radical spins (Jr-r ) in the 2 e- -oxidized complex. DFT calculations suggest stabilization of the triplet state, which is also in good agreement with the experiment. Ab initio molecular dynamics allowed the variation of the structural details to be followed upon stepwise oxidations and also the final isomerization process including its associated energy barrier.

Hg···Hg···Hg Interaction Stabilizes Unusual Trinuclear Double Sandwich Structure of Mercury(II) Porphyrins.

For the first time, fully characterized and stable trinuclear "double sandwich" molecules are reported with Hg(II) ion using a highly flexible porphyrin dimer. The molecules display interesting and intense luminescence properties at room temperature. The present investigation clearly demonstrates that attractive mercurophilic interactions do play an essential role in bringing two porphyrin macrocycles exactly on top of each other with an unfavorable fully eclipsed geometry to produce short Hg···Hg distances. Interactions between Hg(II) dz2 orbitals provide the directionality with a linear Hg3 core having short Hg···Hg distances despite the fact that ligand framework is highly flexible.

Complexation of Chiral Zinc(II)Porphyrin Tweezer with Chiral Guests: Control, Discrimination and Rationalization of Supramolecular Chirality.

A series of 1:1 sandwich complexes consisting of chiral zinc(II) bisporphyrin hosts and a series of chiral guests has been synthesized and has rationalized the underpinning mechanism of chirality transfer in the host-guest supramolecular assemblies. The number of stereogenic centers is also varied in both the host and guests, which provides insight into the overall helicity of the assembly. The interactions between the chiral host and chiral guests have been investigated by UV-visible, CD, and 1H NMR spectroscopic titrations along with extensive DFT studies. Interestingly, CD spectral changes are very different between chiral guests with one and two chiral centers. It has been observed that the sign of the CD couplet of the host-guest complexes is dictated by the chirality of the host only with guests having one chiral center. The match and mismatch of the chirality of the guest only affects the amplitude of the CD signal; the sign, however, remains intact. In sharp contrast, the helicity of the 1:1 sandwich complex is dictated by the chirality of the guests having two chiral centers. However, amplification of the CD couplet is observed upon matching of the chirality between the host and guest, while a mismatch leads to an inversion of the CD couplet. The enantiomeric host also displays similar trends with chiral guests but with opposite sign. The enantioselective host also displays excellent chiral discrimination ability toward enantiomeric guests with two chiral centers. The guest with the same chirality as the host binds much stronger as compared to its enantiomer. Remarkable enantiodiscrimination effects were also detected in the 1H NMR spectra of the diastereomeric complexes in which well-resolved separation of the signals is clearly visible. The theoretical calculations are consistent with those of the experiment.

Molecule to Supramolecule: Chirality Induction, Inversion, and Amplification in a Mg(II)porphyrin Dimer Templated by Chiral Diols.

A clear and unambiguous rationalization of chirality induction, amplification, and subsequent inversion processes has been demonstrated using an achiral Mg(II)porphyrin dimer (host) and a series of chiral diols (guests) upon stepwise formation of a 1:1 host-guest polymer and 1:2 host-guest monomer via intermolecular assembling and disassembling processes. Crystallographic characterizations are reported here for both the polymer and the monomeric complexes, which enable us to completely scrutinize the structural and geometrical changes systematically in rationalizing their optical properties. The sign of the CD couplets for both the polymer and monomer are just opposite between R and S guests, which suggests that the chirality is dictated solely by the stereogenic projection of the chiral centers. Stronger intra- and intermolecular coupling in the polymeric complexes is responsible for the highly enhanced CD couplets as compared to the monomer and have only intramolecular coupling as also observed in their X-ray structures. DFT studies clearly support the experimental observations.

Through-Space Spin Coupling in a Silver(II) Porphyrin Dimer upon Stepwise Oxidations: AgII ⋠⋠⋠AgII , AgII ⋠⋠⋠AgIII , and AgIII ⋠⋠⋠AgIII Metallophilic Interactions.

Metallophilic interactions between closed-shell metal ions are becoming a popular tool for a variety of applications related to high-end materials. Heavier d8 transition-metal ions are also considered to have a closed shell and can be involved in such interactions. There is no systematic investigation so far to estimate the structure and energy characteristics of metallophilic interactions in AgII /AgII (d9 /d9 ), AgIII /AgIII (d8 /d8 ), and mixed-valent AgII /AgIII (d9 /d8 ) complexes, which have been demonstrated in the present study. Both interporphyrinic and intermetallic interactions were investigated on stepwise oxidation by using a rigid ethene-bridged cis silver(II) porphyrin dimer and the results compared with those for highly flexible ethane-bridged analogues. By controlling the nature of chemical oxidants and their stoichiometry, both 1e and 2e oxidations were done stepwise to generate AgII /AgIII mixed-valent and AgIII /AgIII porphyrin dimers, respectively. Unlike all other ethene-bridged metalloporphyrin dimers reported earlier, in which 2e oxidation stabilizes only the trans form, such an oxidation of silver(II) porphyrin dimer stabilizes only the cis form because of the metallophilic interaction. Besides silver(II)⋅⋅⋅silver(II) interactions in cis silver(II) porphyrin dimer, stepwise oxidations also enabled us to achieve various hitherto-unknown silver(II)⋅⋅⋅silver(III) and silver(III)⋅⋅⋅silver(III) interactions, which thereby allow significant modulation of their structure and properties. The strength of Ag⋅⋅⋅Ag interaction follows the order AgII /AgII (d9 /d9 )

Complexation of Chiral Zinc(II) Porphyrin Tweezer with Achiral Aliphatic Diamines Revisited: Molecular Dynamics, Electronic CD, and 1H NMR Analysis.

We have reported here the complexation and chiroptical behavior of the host-guest complexes using a new chiral Zn(II) bisporphyrin tweezer host and a series of achiral aliphatic diamine guests varying the chain length. (1R,2R)-Cyclohexanediamine covalently links two Zn(II) porphyrin moieties, which thereby produces a strong chiral field around the bisporphyrin tweezer framework. The chiral tweezer upon complexation with achiral guest exhibited large changes in the UV-vis spectra and CD exciton couplets due to a sudden change in the porphyrin disposition, which is controlled by the host-guest stoichiometry as well as the chain lengths of the diamine guest. Addition of smaller diamines (n: 2-5) to the host resulted in the formation of 1:1 sandwich and 1:2 open complexes, respectively, at the low and high guest concentration, which eventually display two-step inversions of the CD couplet. With longer diamines (n: 6-8), however, only 1:1 sandwich complexes are formed with retention of the CD sign. Similar observations were also reported by us recently using another chiral bisporphyrin tweezer having (1R,2R)-diphenylethylenediamine as the spacer. In an effort to obtain deeper insights into the sudden changes of interporphyrin disposition just by changing the length of the achiral diamines, we have extended a series of computational studies and correlated closely with the results obtained from the experiment. While the previously published study has relied on commonly applied Monte Carlo (MC) sampling of the potential energy surface in addition to being guided by porphyrin effective transition moment approximation, the present study uses a considerably more robust molecular modeling protocol, namely Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations followed by full ab initio geometry optimization and TD-DFT CD prediction. The experimental data corroborate with the results obtained from the theoretical conformational analysis. The latter are also supported by experimental 1H NMR data empowered by the porphyrin ring-current effect. The NMR spectral patterns of pyrrolic protons of the free host and the 1:1 sandwich complexes appear very diagnostic and reflect the changes in the mutual porphyrin disposition on moving from the free host to the complexed ones with short and long diamines. Overall, the experimental NMR data underscore the sensitivity of pyrrolic protons chemical shifts to subtle alterations of the geometrical features, and as such, they come in agreement with the theoretically derived models.

Diheme Cytochrome c: Structure-Function Correlation and Effect of Heme-Heme Interactions.

We explore here the structure-function relationship of the diheme cytochrome c using synthetic diheme analogs which serve as a convenient tool to investigate various aspects of Nature's sophisticated design in vitro. A large series of diiron ethane-bridged porphyrin dimers, both in the oxidized and the reduced states, are synthesized and their structural, chemical, and electrochemical properties have been scrutinized. Interestingly, the iron-to-iron nonbonding separation observed in such dihemes ranges from 9.49 to 10.06 Å which is very similar to the separation of 9.4 and 9.9 Å observed in the crystal structures of diheme cytochromes c isolated from Geobacter sulfurreducens and Haemophilus influenza, respectively. The FeIII/FeII redox couple in the diheme complex is shifted toward more positive than their monomeric analog. Present study unmasks the electronic structure and properties of diheme centers and also highlights the significance of their structural arrangement and axial ligand orientation, and heme-to-heme separation. The Atoms in Molecules (AIM) analysis suggests long-range attractive dispersion forces between the heme units for the observed structure and properties in dihemes.

Cyclic Bis-porphyrin-Based Flexible Molecular Containers: Controlling Guest Arrangements and Supramolecular Catalysis by Tuning Cavity Size.

Three cyclic zinc(II) bis-porphyrins (CB) with highly flexible linkers are employed as artificial molecular containers that efficiently encapsulate/coordinate various aromatic aldehydes within their cavities. Interestingly, the arrangements of guests and their reactivity inside the molecular clefts are significantly influenced by the cavity size of the cyclic containers. In the presence of polycyclic aromatic aldehydes, such as 3-formylperylene, as a guest, the cyclic bis-porphyrin host with a smaller cavity (CB1) forms a 1:1 sandwich complex. Upon slightly increasing the spacer length and thereby the cavity size, the cyclic host (CB2) encapsulates two molecules of 3-formylperylene that are also stacked together due to strong π-π interactions between them and CH-π interactions with the porphyrin rings. However, in the cyclic host (CB3) with an even larger cavity, two metal centers of the bis-porphyrin axially coordinate two molecules of 3-formylperylene within its cavity. Different arrangements of guest inside the cyclic bis-porphyrin hosts are investigated by using UV/Vis, ESI-MS, and 1 H NMR spectroscopy, along with X-ray structure determination of the host-guest complexes. Moreover, strong binding of guests within the cyclic bis-porphyrin hosts support the robust nature of the host-guest assemblies in solution. Such preferential binding of the bis-porphyrinic cavity towards aromatic aldehydes through encapsulation/coordination has been employed successfully to catalyze the Knoevenagel condensation of a series of polycyclic aldehydes with active methylene compounds (such as Meldrum's acid and 1, 3-dimethylbarbituric acid) under ambient conditions. Interestingly, the yields of the condensed products significantly increase upon increasing spacer lengths of the cyclic bis-porphyrins because more substrates can then be encapsulated within the cavity. Such controllable cavity size of the cyclic containers has profound implications for constructing highly functional and modular enzyme mimics.

Intermacrocyclic Interaction Triggers Facile One-Pot Synthesis of a Chlorin-Porphyrin Heterodimer.

This work reports a highly facile one-pot synthesis of a new series of fully π-conjugated unsymmetric chlorin-porphyrin heterodimers with quantitative yields by utilizing intermacrocyclic interactions. One-electron oxidations of dicopper(II) and dipalladium(II) porphyrin dimers using mild oxidants such as iodine at room temperature resulted in the formation of a strongly interacting cofacial mixed-valent π-cation radical dimers. The radical, being highly reactive, drives spontaneous and rapid transformation involving a new N=C bond formation, 1,2-ethyl migration, and the generation of a new indolizinium ring that bridges between the two macrocycles. X-ray structural characterization of the heterodimers reveals that the two macrocycles are nearly coplanar and thereby extends the π-conjugation from one end to the other. DFT calculations that reproduce the experimental results are also reported.