Light-harvesting heptadecameric porphyrin assemblies

New porphyrin assemblies containing 17 porphyrin molecules are constructed by using free base TPP-type porphyrins having eight pyrazine moieties 1. Spectroscopic titration of dimeric [meso-tetrakis(2-carboxy-4-nonylphenyl)porphyrinato]zinc(II) 2 with these porphyrins shows that the processes of the formation of the heptadecameric porphyrin assemblies may be analyzed as eight independent equilibrium processes with an identical binding constant. All binding constants are larger than 5 x 107 M-1 which is the determinable upper limit of the present titration method. In all cases, the fluorescence spectrum of the 1:8 mixture of 1 and 2 consists of the major fluorescence of 1 and the minor one of 2.pyrazine complex even in the presence of the large excess of the antenna pigments. The observed spectra are well reconstructed by the form of faF1 + fbF2, where F1 and F2 are the fluorescence of 1 and the 2.pyrazine complex measured separately at the corresponding concentrations. Interestingly, the general trend that values of fa are nearly equal to those of r564 x (1 - fb) in all cases is found, where r564 is the absorption ratios of the 2.pyrazine moiety and the central free base porphyrin in the assemblies at 564 nm. The observation indicates the excitation of the central porphyrin is directly enhanced by the absorption of the antenna pigments even in such large scale assemblies. Thus, the antenna effect for 1 having largest r564 results in 77 times fluorescence enhancement of the central free base porphyrin. The systems also show interesting dependency of energy-transfer efficiencies on the topological arrangement of the antenna elements.     

Cyclodipeptide-bridged porphyrin dimer supramolecular assemblies

A cyclodipeptide-bridged porphyrin dimer has formed fibrous and toroidal multi-porphyrin array systems by hydrogen bonding-mediated self-assembly.     

Supramolecular assemblies between macrocyclic porphyrin hexamers and star-shaped porphyrin arrays.

The syntheses of eight new star-shaped D(3)-symmetric arrays in which three 15-(pyrid-4-yl)porphyrin subunits are attached to the 1, 3, and 5 positions of a benzene core through linkers consisting of collinear repetitive phenylethynyl units have been carried out using Pd(0)-catalyzed coupling reactions. By the same procedure, an analogous 10-(4-pyridin-yl)porphyrin hexamer in which all positions of the benzene core are substituted has been obtained. Likewise, the preparation of suitably sized cyclic porphyrin hexamers, in which all six or at least three alternate porphyrin rings are complexed with Zn(II) ions, is described in detail. In solution, such cyclic porphyrin hexamers form supramolecular assemblies with the star-shaped polyporphyrins in which the latter are held in the interior of the macrocycle through coordination of the apical pyridine rings with the Zn(II) ions. The suggested structures are supported by (1)H NMR spectroscopic and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric measurements. They agree with the high values of the binding constants of the corresponding supramolecules, which range between K = 1.1 x 10(10) and 1.4 x10(9) M(-1).     

Polymeric porphyrin and metalloporphyrin assemblies in bulk solution

Some water-soluble porphyrins aggregate in aqueous media to form fibrous assemblies. When polynucleotides are used as matrices, porphyrin monomers are aligned at the periphery or intercalated. Porphyrin-porphyrin interactions hardly occur. Metal-metal or metal-ligand-metal interactions have been observed in oxo-oligomers, pyrazine-bridged dimers and radical dimers. β-Substituted metallo-porphyrins, however, form no polymers. The only linear polymerization, which has so far been observed in molecular asemblies, occurs with amphiphilic porphyrin amides, amines and carboxylates and their metal complexes in water and of bacteriochlorophyll in DMF/water. These compounds form long-lived high molecular weight micellar, inverse micellar and vesicular fibers spontaneously in aqueous media. The porphyrin fibers in water are about 4-6 nm thick and up to several of μm long.     

Chirality amplification of porphyrin assemblies exclusively constructed from achiral porphyrin derivatives.

Two achiral porphyrin derivatives, 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-methoxyphenyl)-21H,23H-porphine (TPPOMe) and 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-21H,23H-porphine (TPPOH), were spread onto an air/water interface. The spreading films were transferred onto solid substrates by the Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) method. Although both of the porphyrin derivatives are achiral species, the transferred LS multilayer films shows macroscopic supramolecular chirality, which is suggested to be due to the spontaneous symmetry breaking that occurs at the air/water interface. A strong CD signal is observed from the as-deposited TPPOH LS film, while a relatively weak CD signal is detected from that of TPPOMe. Interestingly, when the TPPOMe LS film was annealed in high vacuum, a significant amplification of the supramolecular chirality is observed. Atomic force microscopy observations confirm that TPPOMe form more ordered aggregates upon annealing. It is suggested that the small amount of chiral assemblies formed in the as-deposited LS film grow into larger ones following the "sergeants and soldiers" principle during the annealing process.     

Supramolecular assemblies of tripodal porphyrin hosts and C60

The self-assembly of two tripodal porphyrin hosts in the presence of C(60), in the solid state, has been studied using synchrotron X-ray crystallography, and in solution by using (1)H NMR and fluorescence spectroscopies. The binding affinities, stoichiometries and geometries strongly depend on the size of the porphyrin host. Intramolecular and/or intermolecular porphyrin-fullerene interactions are observed in the co-crystallites and in each case, the trimer exhibits a "tweezers-like" structural motif. The solid-state structures of the trimer-fullerene co-crystallites reveal close fullerene-porphyrin and fullerene-fullerene contacts.     

Tuning porphyrin/DNA supramolecular assemblies by competitive binding

Addition of an intercalating but nonaggregating porphyrin, AuT4, to a preformed adduct between DNA and a strongly aggregating porphyrin, t-H2Pagg, permits control of the extent of aggregation of the latter. The size and the intensity of the ICD and RLS signals depend linearly on the concentration of the intercalating dye and decrease markedly on increasing the concentration of the available binding sites on the biopolymer template.     

Template-assisted control of porphyrin aggregation by ladder-type supramolecular assemblies

A new strategy to control the orientation and aggregation numbers of porphyrins by alignment along well-defined templates has been demonstrated. Porphyrin-bridged bisPYBOX ligands were arranged along the oligomeric secondary dialkylammonium cations as templates to form well-defined supramolecular complexes. The templates controlled the aggregations of the porphyrins.     

Synthesis and characterization of new porphyrin/4-quinolone conjugates

New porphyrin/4-quinolone conjugates were synthesized from the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction of a β-borylated porphyrin with bromo-4-quinolones containing N-ethyl and N-d-ribofuranosyl substituents. The use of electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry showed important information about the fragmentation pathways of the new compounds. It was possible to distinguish between those compounds with the porphyrin moiety linked at the 6-position of the quinolone unit from their 7-substituted isomers. The new compounds showed to be good singlet oxygen generators.     

Rational design of supramolecular chirality in porphyrin assemblies: the halogen bond case

Asymmetric functionalization of the tetraarylporphyrin scaffold, combined with directional supramolecular halogen bonding, yields chiral architectures.     

Multi-electron transfer reactions and exciton interactions in fibrous porphyrin and metalloporphyrin assemblies

Non-covalent porphyrin and metalloporphyrin fibers of bimolecular thinness in bulk aqueous media are compared with the well-known H- and J-aggregates of cyanines. The J-aggregates of cyanines fluoresce and are useful as photographic sensitizers. The J-aggregates of porphyrins show light-induced charge separation and the corresponding metal complexes produce stable radical dimers. The distance between the metalloporphyrin centers is calculated from circular dichroism spectra to be 8 Å in the J-aggregates and about 4 Å in the H-aggregates. Multi-electron reactions of the fibers in the ground and excited states can therefore occur in the fibrous porphyrin assemblies. In amphiphilic tetraphenylporphyrins (“octopus porphyrin”), on the other hand, the porphyrin–porphyrin distance is much larger and the fiber dissolves electron-accepting compounds, e.g. quinones, which also allow for multiple charge separation within such a fiber.     

Electrospray tandem mass spectrometry of new porphyrin amino acid conjugates

Porphyrin amino acid conjugates with one or two porphyrin units were analyzed by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). The ESI-MS spectra of all the porphyrins studied, obtained in positive ion mode, show the presence of the corresponding protonated molecule [M+H]+; ESI-MS spectra of diporphyrinyl compounds also show the doubly charged ions [M+2H]2+. The fragmentations of these ions induced by collision with argon were studied (ESI-MS/MS). ESI-MS/MS gives detailed structural information about the amino acids associated with the porphyrin. Cleavage of the bonds in the vicinity of the porphyrin moiety and those involving the side chain of amino acid residues gives structural information about this type of association. A fragmentation common to all derivatives corresponds to the cleavage of the phenyl-CO bond. The expected cleavage of the amide bond, that links the porphyrin to the amino acid moiety, is a minor fragmentation, which in some cases is even absent. The MS/MS spectra of the monoporphyrinyl derivatives show product ions characteristic of the amino acid linked to the porphyrin; the fragmentation also indicates when the amino acids has a terminal carboxylic group or a terminal ester group. The fragmentations of the diporphyrinyl compounds occur mainly by the cleavage of the spacer, leading, in the case of the doubly charged ions, to predominantly mono-charged ions, indicating a preferential location of the two protons in separated porphyrinic units.     

Organized assemblies of single wall carbon nanotubes and porphyrin for photochemical solar cells: charge injection from excited porphyrin into single-walled carbon nanotubes

Photochemical solar cells have been constructed from organized assemblies of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) and protonated porphyrin on nanostructured SnO2 electrodes. The protonated form of porphyrin (H4P2+) and SWCNT composites form 0.5-3.0 microm-sized rodlike structures and they can be assembled onto nanostructured SnO2 films [optically transparent electrode OTE/SnO2] by an electrophoretic deposition method. These organized assemblies are photoactive and absorb strongly in the entire visible region. The incident photon to photocurrent efficiency (IPCE) of OTE/SnO2/SWCNT-H4P2+ is approximately 13% at an applied potential of 0.2 V versus saturated calomel electrode. Femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy experiments confirm the decay of the excited porphyrin in the SWCNT-H4P2+ assembly as it injects electrons into SWCNT. The dual role of SWCNT in promoting photoinduced charge separation and facilitating charge transport is presented.     

Supramolecular porphyrin assemblies through amidinium-carboxylate salt bridges and fast intra-ensemble excited energy transfer

Well‐defined supramolecular assemblies of Zn and free‐base porphyrins are constructed through the formation of amidinium–carboxylate salt bridges. A one‐to‐one donor–acceptor pair and a four‐to‐one antenna‐type assembly are investigated. The steady‐state and time‐resolved fluorescence measurements unequivocally showed that efficient singlet–singlet excited energy transfer from the Zn–porphyrin complex to the free‐base porphyrin takes place in these assemblies. Indeed, the observed energy‐transfer rates in both types of assemblies are much faster than those the Förster mechanism would suggest, implying the involvement of an intermolecular through‐bond mechanism.     

Porphyrin-triarylamine conjugates: strong electronic communication between triarylamine redox centers via the porphyrin dication

A set of porphyrin-triarylamine hybrids have been synthesized in good yield by Sonogashira palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions between the zinc complex of 5,15-diethynyl-10,20-dimesitylporphyrin and the appropriate iodophenyldiarylamines. The crystal structure of porphyrin 1 shows that the dihedral angle between the acetylene-bonded benzene rings and the porphyrin macrocycle is 20.0 degrees. Such a structural characteristic enables effective electronic perturbations within the molecule. The electronic spectra are red-shifted and display a broad Soret band and an intense Q band relative to those of meso-substituted tetraarylporphyrins. These conjugates display four oxidations and one reduction. All the electrochemical reactions involve one-electron transfer. The first and second oxidations are reversible and can be assigned to the porphyrin-centered reactions. The third and fourth ones, separated by about 270 mV, correspond to the triarylamine units. The comproportionation constant (Kc) is calculated to be 3.67x10(4). The electron coupling between the triarylamine moieties, at a separation of >23 A, is remarkably strong. The electrochemical results and the absorption spectra show that the electronic characteristics of these porphyrins can be significantly modulated by the triarylamine substituents via the conjugated carbon-carbon triple bond. Variations of the substituents on the triarylamines can fine-tune the electronic properties of these molecules.     

Axial coordination changes the morphology of porphyrin assemblies in an organogel system

The gelation properties of a zinc porphyrin bearing peripheral urea groups (1 x Zn) were evaluated in the absence and the presence of several diamines. In aromatic solvents such as benzene, toluene and p-xylene, 1 x Zn only provided the precipitate. In contrast, 1 x Zn with 0.5 and 1.0 equiv. of piperazine formed gels, and the gel with 0.5 equiv. of piperazine showed a unique physical property called 'thixotropy'. On the other hand, upon addition of similar diamines such as DABCO, ethylenediamine and N,N'-dimethylethylenediamine, 1 x Zn did not gelate these solvents. When the critical gelation concentration was plotted against the ratio of piperazine versus 1 x Zn, it afforded a minimum breakpoint at 0.5 equiv. and the critical concentration increased with further increase in the fraction of piperazine, indicating that the stable gel is formed from the 1 x Zn + piperazine 2:1 complex and the subsequent transformation to the 1:1 complex rather destabilizes the gel. Very interestingly, it was clearly shown by SEM and TEM observations that such structural changes of the unit complex induced by the ratio of piperazine versus 1 x Zn can lead to gradual morphological transitions: that is, spherical structure at 0 equiv., 1-D fibrous structure at 0.5 equiv. and 2-D sheet-like structure at 1.0 equiv. In addition, UV-VIS spectra revealed that 1 x Zn itself adopts a J-aggregation mode, whereas 1 x Zn + piperazine 2:1 and 1:1 complexes adopt an H-like aggregation mode. On the other hand, upon addition of 0.5 equiv. of other diamines, 1 x Zn + diamine complexes result in different morphologies other than the 1-D fibrous structure. To explore a reasonable rationale for these results, we conducted computational studies. As a result, we found that the complex symmetry of the unit complex plays an important role in determining the final ordered structure.     

Surface functionalized silver nanoparticle conjugates: demonstration of uptake and release of a phototherapeutic porphyrin dye

A facile supramolecular approach to prepare surface functionalized silver nanoparticle conjugates has been established and their enhanced molecular recognition features have been explored to demonstrate the uptake and stimulus responsive release of a phototherapeutic porphyrin dye, the TMPyP.