Tropiporphyrins, cycloheptatrienyl analogues of the porphyrins: Synthesis, spectroscopy, chemistry, and structural characterization of a silver(III) derivative

Tripyrranes were condensed with 1,3,5-cycloheptriene-1,6-dicarbaldehyde in TFA-CH2Cl2 to give, following oxidation with 0.1% aqueous ferric chloride solutions, a series of tropiporphyrins 9. These cycloheptatrienyl analogues of the porphyrins show strong diatropic ring currents by proton NMR spectroscopy where the internal CH gives a resonance at -7.3 ppm, although the meso-protons are not shifted as far downfield as most aromatic porphyrinoid systems. These data indicate that the seven-membered ring distorts the porphyrinoid macrocycle and decreases the overall diatropicity in tropiporphyrins. Addition of trace amounts of TFA to solutions of 9 affords the corresponding aromatic monocations, and at higher acid concentrations a nonaromatic dication is generated. The dication has undergone C-protonation at one of the meso-bridges and has lost the plane of symmetry present in the parent system. This species shows significant downfield shifts to the cycloheptatrienyl protons, indicating that this unit has taken on tropylium character. Tropiporphyrin 9a underwent a Diels-Alder cycloaddition with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate in refluxing xylenes to give modest yields of the related adduct. The Diels-Alder adduct 17 showed an increased diatropic ring current where the internal proton shifted beyond -9 ppm, and this indicates that the [18]annulene substructure has flattened out compared to 9a. Diimide reduction of 9a afforded a dihydrotropiporphyrin that also showed a stronger ring current. Tropiporphyrins 9 were also shown to react with silver(I) acetate in the presence of DBU in refluxing pyridine to give the corresponding silver(III) organometallic derivatives. The meso-protons for these metal complexes give proton NMR chemical shift values similar to those for the parent tropiporphyrins, indicating that the macrocycle is still distorted, but the external olefinic protons are shifted downfield compared to 9. A diphenylsubstituted silver(III) derivative 18b was further characterized by X-ray crystallography. This shows that the cycloheptatriene unit takes on a highly twisted geometry that distorts the overall conformation of the porphyrinoid macrocycle.