Porphyrinogen and Porphyrin-Type Macrocycles

The scientific interest in porphyrin ligands (Fig. 5) derives in part from their ability to accommodate a large series of different elements, often in various oxidation states. On the other hand porphyrins are planar molecules with a delocalized 18 Ti-electron system and a diatropic ring current [25], which makes them interesting for the design of new materials with applications in photochemistry [25-27]. 

In contrast, porphyrinogens 16 (Fig. 5) possess only 16 Ti-electrons and as a consequence the delocalization over the whole macrocycle is absent. The conformations of porphyrinogens are not planar any more and can approximate to the conformations known for calix[4]arenes (vide supra). Compounds 16 (Fig. 5) may, therefore, be considered as heteroatomic calixarene derivatives, of which some have additional heteroatoms in the bridging positions [15, 28-30]. 

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