How acidic are corroles and why?

The pH-dependent absorption and emission spectra of the water-soluble 2,17-disulphonato-5,10,15-tris(pentafluorophenyl)corrole revealed that its inner-core nitrogen atoms can be both protonated and deprotonated, with acidity constants of 2.5 and 5.2, respectively. An analysis of the structural features of free-base corroles suggests that the quite limited pH range at which corroles remain neutral is reminiscent of the instability of mono-protonated porphyrins. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.