13C NMR investigation of solid-state polymorphism in 10-deacetyl baccatin III

To investigate the origins of solid-state NMR shift differences in polymorphs, carbon NMR chemical shift tensors are measured for two forms of solid 10-deacetyl baccatin III: a dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvate and an unsolvated form. A comparison of ab initio computed tensors that includes and omits the DMSO molecules demonstrates that lattice interactions cannot fully account for the shift differences in the two forms. Instead, conformational differences in the cyclohexenyl, benzoyl, and acetyl moieties are postulated to create the differences observed. X-ray analysis of six baccatin III analogues supports the suggested changes in the cyclohexenyl and benzoyl systems. The close statistical match of the (13)C chemical shifts of both polymorphic forms with those calculated using the X-ray geometry of 10-deacetyl baccatin III supports the contention that the B, C, and D rings are fairly rigid. Therefore, the observed tensor differences appear to arise primarily from conformational variations in ring substituents and the cyclohexenyl ring.     

Ab initio stochastic optimization of conformational and many-body degrees of freedom

Moderate to large size molecules in solution have complex energy surfaces due to intramolecular (conformational) and intermolecular (many-body) interactions. The first principles Monte Carlo (FPMC) method, previously shown to effectively locate minimum-energy structures for systems with only many-body complexity, has been extended to address conformational flexibility by adding three new Monte Carlo move types. The primary advantage of the FPMC method is the ability to efficiently locate minimum energy structures of molecules with conformational flexibility in the presence of explicit solvent molecules using highly accurate quantum chemical calculations. The additions to FPMC were validated by studying conformers of glycerol, glyceraldehyde, and a large humic acid monomer unit. The structure of glyceraldehyde in the presence of one and two water molecules was also explored to demonstrate the power of FPMC to study systems with both conformational and many-body degrees of freedom.     

Figure eights, Möbius bands, and more: conformation and aromaticity of porphyrinoids

The aromatic character of porphyrins, which has significant chemical and biological consequences, can be substantially altered by judicious modifications of the parent ring system. Expansion of the macrocycle, which is achieved by introducing additional subunits, usually increases the so‐called free curvature of the ring, leading to larger angular strain. This strain is reduced by a variety of conformational changes, most notably by subunit inversion and π surface twisting. The latter effect creates a particularly convenient access to Möbius aromatic molecules, whose properties, predicted over 40 years ago, are of considerable theoretical importance. The conformational processes occurring in porphyrin analogues are often coupled to other chemical phenomena, and can thus be exploited as a means of constructing functional molecular devices. In this Review, the structural chemistry of porphyrinoids is discussed in the context of their conformational dynamics and π‐electron conjugation     

The NMR spectra of the porphyrins 16—zinc(II) meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (Zn TPP) as a diamagnetic shift reagent. A quantitative ring current model

The facile preparation of zinc(II) meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (Zn TPP) and derivatives from substituted benzaldehydes and pyrrole, combined with the calculation of ring current shifts in these molecules, provides a useful series of selective diamagnetic shift reagents. The porphyrin-ligand equilibrium is examined for some nitrogenous bases and the complexation shifts (δP values) are obtained in precisely the same manner as LIS. The parameterization of the double-dipole model of the porphyrin ring current is given, with the inclusion of the phenyl ring currents and free rotation about the substrate-Zn bond. Precise agreement with the porphyrin proton chemical shifts and the complexation shifts of the geometrically rigid substrates of pyridine, 4-picoline and quinuclidine is obtained. In contrast, the ¹³C complexation shifts in these molecules are subject to additional effects other than the ring current shift.     

Conformational Change from a Twisted Figure‐Eight to an Open‐Extended Structure in Doubly Fused 36π Core‐Modified Octaphyrins Triggered by Protonation: Implication on Photodynamics and Aromaticity

Two examples of core‐modified 36π doubly fused octaphyrins that undergo a conformational change from a twisted figure‐eight to an open‐extended structure induced by protonation are reported. Syntheses of the two octaphyrins (in which Ar=mesityl or tolyl) were achieved by a simple acid‐catalyzed condensation of dipyrrane unit containing an electron‐rich, rigid dithienothiophene (DTT) core with pentafluorobenzaldehyde followed by oxidation with 2,3‐dichloro‐5,6‐dicyano‐1,4‐benzoquinone (DDQ). The single‐crystal X‐ray structure of the octaphyrin (in which Ar=mesityl) shows a figure‐eight twisted conformation of the expanded porphyrin skeleton with two DTT moieties oriented in a staggered conformation with a π‐cloud distance of 3.7 Å. Spectroscopic and quantum mechanical calculations reveal that both octaphyrins conform to a [4n]π nonaromatic electronic structure. Protonation of the pyrrole nitrogen atoms of the octaphyrins results in dramatic structural change, which led to 1) a large redshift and sharpening of absorption bands in electronic absorption spectrum, 2) a large change in chemical shift of pyrrole β‐CH and ? NH protons in the ¹H NMR spectrum, 3) a small increase in singlet lifetimes, and 4) a moderate increase in two‐photon absorption cross‐section values. Furthermore, nucleus‐independent chemical shift (NICS) values calculated at various geometrical positions show positive values and anisotropy‐induced current density (AICD) plots indicate paratropic ring‐currents for the diprotonated form of the octaphyrin (in which Ar=tolyl); the single‐crystal X‐ray structure of the diprotonated form of the octaphyrin shows an extended structure in which one of the pyrrole ring of each dipyrrin subunit undergoes a 180 ° ring‐flip. Four trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) molecules are bound above and below the molecular plane defined by meso‐carbon atoms and are held by N? H ??? O, N? H ??? F, and C? H ??? F intermolecular hydrogen‐bonding interactions. The extended‐open structure upon protonation allows π‐delocalization and the electronic structure conforms to a [4n]π Hückel antiaromatic in the diprotonated state.     

Comparative Quantum-Chemical Analysis of the Electronic Structures of the Valence Regions of Active Sites in Cytochromes f and c.

A comparative analysis of densities of states has been carried out for the valence regions of the hemes and clusters of cytochromes f and c using the ZINDO1 semiempirical quantum-chemical method. The molecular orbitals of these structures are formed from the p atomic orbitals of nitrogen and carbon of the porphyrin ring, making equal contributions. For systems with negative charges, more than half of all added electrons are distributed over the porphyrin parts of the molecules. The molecular orbital energies of the valence regions of the corresponding clusters and hemes are nearly the same. In iron porphyrin, as well as in heme f and cytochrome cluster f, the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital is doubly degenerate. In heme c and cytochrome cluster c, the degeneracy is lifted because of the asymmetry of the nearest aminoacid environment and substituents in the porphyrin ring.     

Giant porphyrin wheels with large electronic coupling as models of light-harvesting photosynthetic antenna

Starting from a 1,3-phenylene-linked diporphyrin zinc(II) complex 2ZA, repeated stepwise Ag(I)-promoted coupling reactions provided linear oligomers 4ZA, 6ZA, 8ZA, and 12ZA. The intramolecular cyclization reaction of 12ZA under dilute conditions (1x10(-6) M) gave porphyrin ring C12ZA with a diameter of approximately 35 A in 60% yield. This synthetic strategy has been applied to a 1,3-phenylene-linked tetraporphyrin 4ZB to provide 8ZB, 12ZB, 16ZB, 24ZB, and 32ZB. The intramolecular coupling reaction of 24ZB gave a larger 24-mer porphyrin ring C24ZB with a diameter of approximately 70 A in 34% yield. These two large porphyrin rings were characterized by means of 1H NMR spectroscopy, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis, and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) techniques. The STM images of C12ZA reveal largely circular structures, whereas those of C24ZB exhibit mostly ellipsoidal shapes, indicating more conformational flexibility of C24ZB. Similar to the case of C12ZA, the efficient excitation energy transfer along the ring has been confirmed for C24ZB by using the time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) and picosecond transient absorption anisotropy (TAA) measurements, and occurs with a rate of (35 ps)(-1) for energy hops between neighboring tetraporphyrin subunits. Collectively, the present work provides an important step for the construction of large cyclic-arranged porphyrin arrays with ample electronic interactions as a model of light-harvesting antenna.     

Irradiation of the porphyrin causes unfolding of the protein in the protoporphyrin IX/beta-lactoglobulin noncovalent complex

Porphyrins such as protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) are known to occasionally cause conformational changes in proteins for which they are specific ligands. It has also been established that irradiation of porphyrins noncovalently intercalated between bases or bound to one of the grooves can cause conformational effects on DNA. Conversely, there is no evidence reported in the literature of conformational changes caused by noncovalently bound PPIX to globular proteins for which the porphyrin is not a specific ligand. This study shows that the irradiation of the porphyrin in the PPIX/lactoglobulin noncovalent complex indeed causes a local and limited (approximately 7%) unfolding of the protein near the location of Trp19. This event causes the intrinsic fluorescence spectrum of the protein to shift to the red by 2 nm and the average decay lifetime to lengthen by approximately 0.5 ns. The unfolding of lactoglobulin occurs only at pH >7 because of the increased instability of the protein at alkaline pH. The photoinduced unfolding does not depend on the presence of O2 in solution; therefore, it is not mediated by formation of singlet oxygen and is likely the result of electron transfer between the porphyrin and amino acid residues.     

Synthesis and spectral properties of porphyrinquinone derivatives based on deuteroporphyrin IX

A series of diquinone derivatives of deuteroporphyrin IX, having different bond lengths between the chromophores, have been prepared. Deuteroporphyrin IX was condensed with modified hydroxyl-containing quinones by the mixed anhydride method. PMR spectroscopy was used to show that the magnetic anisotropy of the porphyrin ring has a strong effect on the chemical shift of the protons of the quinone ring and its neighboring substituents.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 608–616, May, 1988.     

Liquid/liquid interface polymerized porphyrin membranes displaying size-selective molecular and ionic permeability

Thin polymeric membranes have been formed by liquid/liquid interfacial copolymerization of a sterically demanding tetraphenylporphyrin derivative having reactive phenol substituents and a second porphyrin having reactive acid chloride groups. The out-of-plane steric demand is created by 3,5-hexoxyphenyl groups positioned at two of the four meso carbons of the porphyrin ring. The bulky substituents were designed to create local pockets and extended pores within the resulting ester-linked copolymer. Quantitative measures of molecular and ionic transport were obtained by placing membranes over microelectrodes and recording voltammetric responses from redox-active probes. The membranes were found to be permeable to small molecules and ions, but blocking toward larger ones, displaying a sharp size cutoff at a probe diameter of ca. 3.5 A. Molecular transport can be modulated by axially ligating pore-blocking moieties to available porphyrin metal centers.     

The NMR spectra of porphyrins-25: Meso-substituent effects in neutral and protonated porphyrins

The meso (methine) substituent chemical shifts (SCS) of a range of common functional groups have been obtained both for the neutral porphyrin molecule, and for the corresponding dications, in substituted octaethylporphyrin (OEP), etioporphyrin-I, and pyrroetioporphyrin-XV derivatives. The SCS are discussed in terms of both ring current variations and specific effects at the neighboring betasubstituents and the meso-proton opposite the perturbing substituent, using a ring current model to quantify the former. In the neutral molecules, meso substitution in OEP (Me, NO₂, CN, CHO) causes a 10% decrease in the macrocyclic ring current, and marked anisotropic shifts at the beta-positions flanking the meso function. The meso-NH₂ group introduces a much larger decrease (ca 35%) in the main ring current, due to conjugation of the amino group with the porphyrin π-system. In the porphyrin dications, SCS are much larger and there is some evidence of a concomitant decrease in the ring current of the adjacent pyrrole subunits. The meso-NMe₂; substituent at the γ-meso-position in pyrroetioporphyrin-XV has only small SCS in the neutral molecule, but a large shift (similar to that of NH₂) in the dication, due to the different orientation of the substituent with respect to the porphyrin plane in each case. The meso-OH substituent in the oxophlorin from etioporphyrin-I behaves as a conjugated OH group in the dication. The anomalous position of the meso-proton opposite to the perturbing substituent is noteworthy, and this could be due to electronic (resonance) effects, or to some protonation at this position.     

Reaction mechanism of porphyrin metallation studied by theoretical methods

We have studied the reaction mechanism for the insertion of Mg2+ and Fe2+ into a porphyrin ring with density functional calculations with large basis set and including solvation, zero-point and thermal effects. We have followed the reaction from the outer-sphere complex, in which the metal is coordinated with six water molecules and the porphyrin is doubly protonated, until the metal ion is inserted into the deprotonated porphyrin ring with only one water ligand remaining. This reaction involves the stepwise displacement of five water molecules and the removal of two protons from the porphyrin ring. In addition, a step seems to be necessary in which a porphyrin pyrrolenine nitrogen atom changes its interaction from a hydrogen bond to a metal-bound solvent molecule to a direct coordination to the metal ion. If the protons are taken up by a neutral imidazole molecule, the deprotonation reactions are exothermic with minimal barriers. However, with a water molecule as an acceptor, they are endothermic. The ligand exchange reactions were approximately thermoneutral (+/-20 kJ mol(-1), with one exception) with barriers of up to 72 kJ mol(-1) for Mg and 51 kJ mol(-1) for Fe. For Mg, the highest barrier was found for the formation of the first bond to the porphyrin ring. For Fe, a higher barrier was found for the formation of the second bond to the porphyrin ring, but this barrier is probably lower in solution. No evidence was found for an initial pre-equilibrium between a planar and a distorted porphyrin ring. Instead, the porphyrin becomes more and more distorted as the number of metal-porphyrin bonds increase (by up to 191 kJ mol(-1)). This strain is released when the porphyrin becomes deprotonated and the metal moves into the ring plane. Implications of these findings for the chelatase enzymes are discussed.     

Conformational flexibility of metalloporphyrins studied by density-functional calculations

Reliable energetic data on the conformational flexibility of organic molecules are important ingredients to better understand the adsorption of such molecules on solid surfaces. Herein, the conformational flexibility of the phenyl substituents in metallo tetraphenyl porphyrins (M-TPP, M = Zn, Co) and metallo tert-butyl tetraphenyl porphyrins (M-TTBPP, M = Zn, Co) has been studied in detail for the first time using density-functional methods. For each molecule, a relaxed two-dimensional potential energy surface scan has been calculated for the two angles describing the rotation and the out-of-plane bending of the phenyl substituents. The results quantify that the molecules are rather flexible close to the energetic minimum while more extreme twisting or tilting of the phenyl substituents results in high-energy deformations of the porphyrin core from planarity due to steric repulsions of adjacent hydrogen atoms.     

The incorporation of C_(60) in cavities of 5,10,15,20-tetra-4-oxy(2-stearic acid)phenyl porphyrin in LB film

The structure and properties of mixed monolayer or LB film of 5,10,15,20-tetra-4-oxy(2-stearic acid)phenyl porphyrin/C60 were studied. A isotherms and small angle X-ray diffraction (SAXD) results show that C60 molecules were incorporated into the cavities of por-phyrin molecules in mixed monolayer and LB film . UV-vis spectra of mixed LB films show that the absorption intensity of porphyrin varied compared with pure porphyrin film, probably arising from the interactions between C60 and porphyrin ring. C60 molecules in mixed systems are well-dispersed. The TPP(CO2H)/C60 mixed LB film is a kind of two-dimensional host-guest system.     

Synthesis of new crown ethers and their metal complexes: 1H and 13C NMR study

A new type of crown ethers containing a diphenyl ether unit has been prepared, the ring size ranging from 12 to 36. ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra of both free ligands and their metal-ion complexes have been recorded. For 18- and 21-membered compounds a general downfield shift was observed for both methylene and aromatic proton resonances on metal-ion complexation. The stoichiometry of K⁺ and Na⁺ complexes was deduced from chemical shift dependence on metal-ion concentration. The K⁺ and Na⁺ complexes of 18- and 21-membered rings have a guest to host ratio of 1:1, whereas the K⁺ salt of the 15-membered ring exists as a 1:2 complex in solution. The ¹H shift observed on salt formation was attributed to electric-field and conformational effects. The ¹³C resonances for the aryl carbons, C-1, C-2 and C-3, and the α-methylene carbon in 15- and 18-membered rings were shifted upfield when an equivalent amount of KSCN was added in CDCI_3?DMSO-d₆. The shift changes were independent of the anion, and similar results were obtained for SCN^?, Br^?, and I^? salts. The upfield shift is explained by conformational factors. The spectral changes were slight for 12- and 36-membered rings. In 15- and 18-membered rings, complexation induces conformational changes which force the C-α carbon into the plane of the benzene ring. The solution conformation of these molecules is discussed.     

Structure effects on isomerization pathways and vibrational spectra of epoxysaccharides: a numerical study

Results of a comparative analysis of conformational possibilities of the hexopyranose ring of six epoxysaccharides differing from each other by the position of the oxirane ring within the limits of the hexapyranose ring and having different orientations of substituents and different positions of the oxirane ring with respect to the skeleton plane of the molecules are presented. Numerical simulations based on the Wiberg and Boyd method made it possible to determine all the stationary forms in which anhydropyranose rings can exist. The effect of various structural factors on the character of conformational transformations, heights of transition barriers, and the energy of stationary forms has been investigated. Normal vibrational modes of the stationary forms of the compounds were calculated using molecular mechanics. Based on results of our simulations, we predict a strong effect of steric factors on the vibrational spectra of sugar epoxides. Received: 24 March 1998 / Accepted: 3 September 1998 / Published online: 17 December 1998     

Magnesium tetraarylporphyrin tweezer: a CD-sensitive host for absolute configurational assignments of alpha-chiral carboxylic acids

A protocol to determine the absolute configuration of alpha-chiral carboxylic acids based on a modified circular dichroic (CD) exciton chirality method has been developed. The protocol relies on a host-guest complexation mechanism: the chiral substrates are derivatized to give bifunctional amide conjugates ("guests") that form complexes with a dimeric magnesium porphyrin host, Mg-T (T stands for "tweezer") that acts as a "receptor". The two porphyrins in the complex adopt a preferred helicity dictated by the substituents at the chiral center in accordance with their steric sizes (assigned on the basis of conformational energy A-values) and, consequently, with the absolute configuration of the substrates under investigation. This chiroptical method, verified with a variety of chiral substrates, has been demonstrated to be reliable and generally applicable, including natural products with complex structures. Molecular modeling, NMR, and FTIR experiments of selected host-guest complexes revealed the mode of ligation of the substrates to the magnesium porphyrin species and led to clarification of the structure of the complex. When oxygen functionalities were directly attached to the chiral center, the signs of the CD couplets were opposite to those predicted on the basis of steric size. NMR and molecular modeling experiments indicated that this apparent inconsistency was due to conformational characteristics of the guest molecules. The stereochemical analysis is shown to be a sensitive technique, not only for the determination of absolute configurations of substrates but also for elucidation of their solution conformations.     

Synthesis of Octafluoroporphyrin

Despite the long list of known fluoroporphyrinoids, the most fundamental 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18‐octafluoroporphyrin (OFP) has not been synthesized until now. It is achieved by condensation of two molecules of tetrafluoro‐dipyrrylmethane‐2‐carboxaldehyde in the presence of magnesium(II) salts. The fluorinated dipyrrylmethane also gives 5,15‐bis(pentafluorophenyl)‐OFP (F18P) with a reasonable yield. Both Mg/OFP and Zn/F18P in the solid‐state reveal an essentially flat structure. The fluoro groups impart as much as a 0.5 V anodic shift for porphyrin ring oxidation/reduction, as well as hypsochromic shifts in the Uv‐vis spectra.     

Synthesis, characterization and spectral properties of substituted tetraphenylporphyrin iron chloride complexes

A series of substituted tetraphenylporphyrin iron chloride complexes [RTPPFe(III)Cl, R=o/p-NO?, o/p-Cl, H, o/p-CH?, o/p-OCH?] were synthesized by a novel universal mixed-solvent method and the spectral properties of free base porphyrins and iron porphyrin compounds were compared with each other. The experimental results showed that the one-pot mixed solvent method was superior to the two-step method in the yields, reaction time and workup of reaction mixtures for the synthesis of iron porphyrin compounds. The highest yields (28.7%-40.4%) of RTPPFe(III)Cl were obtained in the mixed solvents propionic acid, glacial acetic acid and m-nitrotoluene under reflux for 2 h. A detailed analysis of ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis), infrared (IR) and far-infrared (FIR) spectra suggested the transformation from free base porphyrins to iron porphyrins. The red shift of the Soret band in ultraviolet-visible spectra due to the presence of p-nitrophenyl substituents and the blue shift of Fe-Cl bond of TPPFeCl in far-infrared spectra were further explained by the electron transfer and molecular planarity in the porphyrin ring.     

Investigation of the role of the C-PCM solvent effect in reactivity indices

It has been shown recently, how the coupling between electronic degrees of freedom and vibrational modes is reflected in the properties of molecules. The necessary derivatives have been analyzed and their thermodynamic relations were demonstrated. This present work is focused on the analysis of a molecular system, under the influence of C-PCM induced solvent effect. The analysis is based on reactivity indices derived from DFT. The shift of frequency for diatomic molecules has been obtained. It has been identified as chemical force effect. The role of nuclear reactivity indices has been emphasized. This concept has been extended to obtain regional chemical potential values within C-PCM model for polyatomic molecules.