Calculations of derivatives of porphin and porphyrazine with an annulated five-membered heteroaromatic ring using a modified INDO method

Quantum-chemical calculations for series of porphin (H₂P) and porphyrazine (H₂PA) derivatives whose molecules contain a 3,4-annulated five-membered heteroaromatic ring of pyrrole, furan, and thiophene as well as 1,2,5-triazole, 1,2,5-oxadiazole, and 1,2,5-thiadiazole have been carried out by the AM1 and INDO/Sm methods (m means “modified parametrization”). As follows from the unrestricted Hartree-Fock AM1 calculations, the ground state energy of the a isomer is lower than that of the b isomers for all compounds, the a and b isomers being NH isomers with the additional five-membered ring fused to a pyrrolenine or pyrrole ring, respectively. Condensation of the five-membered ring for the b isomers of the H₂P derivatives is shown to extend the main conjugation path from 18-membered to 21-membered cyclopolyene. However, the 18-membered cyclopolyene for the a isomers of the H₂P derivatives and 16-membered cyclopolyene for both isomers of the H₂PA derivatives prove to be isolated from the five-membered ring carrying six π-electrons. Based on INDO/Sm computations of electronic absorption spectra of the H₂P and H₂PA derivatives, it is shown that the Q_x level of the a isomers is sensitive to the nature of the annulated ring whereas the Q_y level is practically not shifted. On the contrary, the Q_x level of the b isomers is relatively insensitive to the nature of the annulated ring while the Q_y level decreases monotonously in the H₂P and H₂PA series, being the first excited state level for the majority of the derivatives (X is along the NH-HN axis; Y, perpendicular to it). The electronic absorption spectra at the border of the visible and near-UV regions are determined mainly by two high-intensity G → B_x and G → B_y transitions for the H₂P derivatives. However, four intense G → B_x, G → B_y, G → N_x, and G → N_y transitions are characteristic of the spectra of the H₂PA derivatives. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 75, No. 5, pp. 606–622, September–October, 2008.