Photoinduced Charge and Energy Transfer within meta- and para-Linked Chlorophyll a-Perylene-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide) Donor-Acceptor Dyads.

Connecting electron donors and acceptors to a benzene ring in a meta or para relationship results in quantum interference effects that can strongly influence charge separation (CS) and charge recombination (CR) processes in these systems. We report on the energy and electron transfer behavior of chlorophyll-based para- and meta-linked donor-bridge-acceptor (D-B-A) dyads, where the semisynthetic chlorophyll a derivative, zinc methyl 3-ethyl-pyrochlorophyllide a (D), is covalently attached at its 20-position to the para position of one phenyl of diphenylacetylene (B). The meta or para position of the phenyl in B distal to the donor is in turn attached to perylene-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide) (PDI) (A). Photoexcitation of the D-B-A dyads produces long-lived radical ion pairs D(•+)-B-A(•-), which recombine to the ground state and to both (3*)D-B-A and D-B-(3*)A. Time-resolved optical and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies were used to monitor the charge transfer and triplet energy transfer (TEnT) processes. At longer times, TEnT occurs from (3*)D-B-A to D-B-(3*)A. Surprisingly, the D-B-A molecules linked via the meta linkage exhibit faster CS, CR, and TEnT rates than do those with the para linkage in contrast to most other meta/para-linked D-B-A molecules previously examined.

Photodriven charge separation and transport in self-assembled zinc tetrabenzotetraphenylporphyrin and perylenediimide charge conduits.

Zinc tetrabenzotetraphenyl porphyrin (ZnTBTPP) covalently attached to four perylenediimide (PDI) acceptors self-assembles into a π-stacked, segregated columnar structure, as indicated by small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering. Photoexcitation of ZnTBTPP rapidly produces a long-lived electron-hole pair having a 26 Šaverage separation distance, which is much longer than if the pair is confined within the covalent monomer. This implies that the charges are mobile within their respective segregated ZnTBTPP and PDI charge conduits.

Radical anions of trifluoromethylated perylene and naphthalene imide and diimide electron acceptors.

A series of electron-deficient perylene and naphthalene imides and diimides (1-4) with varying degrees of trifluoromethylation were synthesized. Single crystal X-ray analysis afforded detailed structural information, while spectroelectrochemical and EPR spectroscopy provided characterization of the radical anions of 1-4. This study reveals that trifluoromethylation of the imides and diimides makes their one-electron reduction potentials substantially more positive relative to the unsubstituted counterparts, while their other properties remain largely unchanged.

π-Extended isomeric and expanded porphyrins.

The phenomenon of π-extension has been widely applied to, and exploited within, the field porphyrin chemistry. The development of reliable synthetic routes to various useful starting materials has facilitated the underlying preparative work. The chemical resemblance between porphyrins and expanded and isomeric porphyrins, as well as the increasing accessibility of the requisite starting materials is giving birth to the hybrid field of π-extended expanded and isomeric porphyrins. This tutorial review is intended to provide an overview of up-to-date published synthetic efforts and to summarize the effect of annulation on the properties of expanded and isomeric porphyrins.

Protonation-coupled redox reactions in planar antiaromatic meso-pentafluorophenyl-substituted o-phenylene-bridged annulated rosarins.

Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) processes are among the most important phenomena that control a variety of chemical and biological transformations. Although extensively studied in a variety of natural systems and discrete metal complexes, PCET mechanisms are less well codified in the case of purely organic compounds. Here we report that a planar ß,ß'-phenylene-bridged hexaphyrin (1.0.1.0.1.0), a 24 π-electron antiaromatic species termed rosarin, displays unique redox reactivity on protonation. Specifically, treatment with acid (for example, HI) yields a 26 π-electron aromatic triprotonated monocationic species that is produced spontaneously via an intermediate-but stable-25 π-electron non-aromatic triprotonated monoradical dication. This latter species is also produced on treatment of the original 24 π-electron antiaromatic starting material with HCl or HBr. The stepwise nature of the proton-coupled reduction observed in the planar rosarin stands in marked contrast to that seen for non-annulated rosarins and other ostensibly antiaromatic expanded porphyrinoids.

Electrochemical synthesis of a thiophene-containing cyclo[9]pyrrole.

A new member of the cyclo[n]pyrrole class of expanded porphyrins could be prepared from the corresponding thiophene-containing terpyrrole precursor through use of a mild electrochemical oxidative procedure. The isolated macrocycle, featuring nine heterocyclic subunits directly connected through their α,α'-positions, is the largest cyclo[n]pyrrole derivative reported to date (see figure).

Cyclo[m]pyridine[n]pyrroles: hybrid macrocycles that display expanded π-conjugation upon protonation.

Novel hybrid cyclo[m]pyridine[n]pyrroles have been synthesized using Suzuki coupling. Their NMR and optical spectroscopic features and solid state structural parameters provide support for the proposal that these species are best described as locally aromatic compounds devoid of long-range intersubunit conjugation. However, an extension of the π-conjugation in the macrocycles can be realized through protonation, as inferred from optical spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction-based structural studies.

π-Extension in expanded porphyrins: cyclo[4]naphthobipyrrole.

The π-extended cyclo[4]naphthobipyrrole 1a has been prepared via an Fe(III)-mediated oxidative cyclization of an alkyl-substituted naphthobipyrrole. The structure of this new expanded porphyrin, isolated as the deprotonated sulfate salt, was characterized by spectroscopic means, as well through a single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Salt 1a displays a total of four well-resolved redox waves as determined by cyclic voltammetry. It also displays bathochromically shifted near-IR absorption maxima compared to the diprotonated forms of nonannulated cyclo[8]pyrroles.

Naphthobipyrrole: versatile synthesis and electropolymerization.

A facile synthetic route to a new polycyclic pyrrole derivative, 3,8-diethyl-1,10-dihydro-benzo[e]pyrrolo[3,2-g]indole (1), is reported. This annulated bipyrrole acts as a monomer for electropolymerization and forms an electrochromic conducting polymer (poly1) when electrooxidized at low potentials (0.4 V vs Ag/Ag(+)) in acetonitrile. The presence of alkyl substituents at the 3 and 8 carbons (ß-pyrrolic positions) induces regioselective 2,5'-coupling of the pyrrole repeat units and gives rise to the more uniform polymeric product, poly1. Poly1 exhibits globular morphology, as judged from SEM pictures. Its spectroelectrochemical features can be attributed to the formation of four possible states: neutral, polaron, bipolaron, and transverse bipolaron. The relatively low switching potentials (-0.6 to +0.9 V vs Ag/Ag(+) in MeCN) displayed by poly1 leads us to suggest that 1 has a role to play as a polymerizable moiety for the development of multicolor electrochromic materials.