New effective synthons for supramolecular self-assembly of meso-carboxyphenylporphyrins

Tesselation of new supramolecular motifs of the tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin building blocks by metal ion templates has been demonstrated in crystals, characterizing the square-planar [Na+.(-COOH)(4). X-] and the tetrahedral [Zn2+.(-COOH)(2).(-COO-)(2)] molecular recognition elements for effective multiporphyrin assembly.