Porphyrins, higher order assemblies

It should be noted here that information derived from solid state data of discrete metal-mediated multi-porphyrins arrays is crucial for a better im-derstanding of the preferred geometry of the system, the flexibility of the building blocks, the inter- and intra-moleciflar interactions, and thus for assessing their potentialities for further exploitation (e.g., host-guest interactions, higher order assemblies). 

The aniline-zinc porphyrin interaction has also been exploited to form dimers. Hunter (60) reported the dimerization of porphyrins functionalized at one meso position with ortho or meta aniline groups (47, 48, Fig. 15). Both compounds showed concentration-dependent H NMR spectra with large upfield shifts for the aniline protons. The dimerization constants are 160 and 1080 M-1 respectively for 47 and 48, and these values are an order of magnitude higher than the association constants of simple reference complexes (K — 10 and 130 M 1 respectively), which is indicative of cooperative self-assembly. The complexa-tion-induced changes in chemical shift were used to obtain three-dimensional structures of the dimers. 

Several additional studies were carried out to obtain information about the precise behavior of the various components in the model system. The interplay between the manganese porphyrin and the rhodium cofactor was found to be crucial for an efficient catalytic performance of the whole assembly and, hence, their properties were studied in detail at different pH values in vesicle bilayers composed of various types of amphiphiles, viz. cationic (DODAC), anionic (DHP), and zwitterionic (DPPC) [30]. At pH values where the reduced rhodium species is expected to be present as Rh only, the rate of the reduction of 13 by formate increased in the series DPPC < DHP < DODAC, which is in line with an expected higher concentration of formate ions at the surface of the cationic vesicles. The reduction rates of 12 incorporated in the vesicle bilayers catalyzed by 13-formate increased in the same order, because formation of the Rh-formate complex is the rate-determining step in this reduction. When the rates of epoxidation of styrene were studied at pH 7, however, the relative rates were found to be reversed DODAC DPPC < DHP. Apparently, for epoxidation to occur, an efficient supply of protons to the vesicle surface is essential, probably for the step in which the Mn -02 complex breaks down into the active epoxidizing Mn =0 species and water. Using a-pinene as the substrate in the DHP-based system, a turnover number of 360 was observed, which is comparable to the turnover numbers observed for cytochrome P450 itself. 

---