Synthesis of sapphyrins, heterosapphyrins, and carbasapphyrins by a 4+1 approach

Sapphyrins are an important group of expanded porphyrins that show valuable anion binding characteristics. In this study, a 4 + 1 route to sapphyrin systems has been developed. Reaction of dialdehydes with a known tetrapyrrole intermediate 11b incorporating a bipyrrolic subunit afforded a wide range of sapphyrin-type products. The best conditions for these reactions involved carrying out the condensation of the dialdehydes with the tetrapyrrole in TFA-dichloromethane, followed by oxidation with dilute aqueous solutions of ferric chloride. A pyrrole dialdehyde reacted under these conditions to give sapphyrin in 50% yield, while furan and thiophene dialdehydes afforded the corresponding oxa- and thiasapphyrins in 66-90% yield. Pyrrole dialdehydes with fused phenanthrene or acenaphthylene rings also reacted with 11b to give the related phenanthroand acenaphthosapphyrins in excellent yields. As was the case for acenaphthoporphyrins, the acenaphthosapphyrin gave longer wavelength absorptions than the corresponding phenanthrene fused structure, although the differences were not as marked as those seen in the porphyrin series. Reaction of 11b with 1,3-diformylindene gave a benzocarbasapphyrin in 38% yield, while a triformyl cyclopentadiene reacted with the tetrapyrrole to give a carbasapphyrin aldehyde in 7-12% yield. The free base carbasapphyrins were unstable but the monoprotonated hydrochloride salts could easily be isolated and characterized. Carbasapphyrins retain a strong diatropic ring current due to the presence of 22,7 electron delocalization pathways. In the presence of trifluoroacetic acid, C-protonated dications are generated. Condensation of 1,3-azulenedicarbaldehyde with 11b gave an azulisapphyrin dihydrochloride salt in 35% yield, and this also showed a strong diatropic ring current. Addition of base gave the unstable free base form, while pyrrolidine formed an unstable adduct that showed an intense Soret band at 480 nm. These results demonstrate that many of the themes observed for modified porphyrins and carbaporphyrins also apply to the sapphyrin series, although in some cases reduced stability hampers these investigations.