Synthesis, electrochemical and photophysical properties of β-carboxy triaryl corroles

An unswerving one-pot conversion of 3-formyl-5,10,15-triaryl substituted corroles and their copper(III) derivatives to the corresponding 3-carboxy-5,10,15-triaryl substituted corroles was achieved by adopting mild reaction conditions by using hydroxylamine hydrochloride and phthalic anhydride. All these substituted carboxy corroles were completely characterized by using Mass, CHN analysis, IR, ¹H NMR, UV-vis., Fluorescence spectroscopies, and cyclic voltammetry. Both the absorption maxima and emission maxima of carboxy corroles were red shifted by 5-13 nm. The LUMO level of these corroles is above the TiO₂ conduction band and HOMO level was below the redox electrolytes. These β-carboxy corroles confined with may find applications as sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells.     

Synthesis of β-di and tribromoporphyrins and the crystal structures of antipodal tri-substituted Zn(II)-porphyrins

Bromination of meso-tetraphenylporphyrin, H₂TPP with controlled amounts of N-bromosuccinimide at ambient conditions in CHCl₃ produced β-dibromo and tribromotetraphenylporphyrins. The regiochemistry of the ZnTPPR₃ (R = Br, Ph) complexes indicate the antipodal substitution at the β-pyrrole positions.     

Molecular engineering of sensitizers for dye‐sensitized solar cell applications

Dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted considerable attention in recent years as they offer the possibility of low‐cost conversion of photovoltaic energy. This account focuses on recent advances in molecular design and technological aspects of sensitizers based on metal complexes, metal‐free organics and tetrapyrrolic compounds which include porphyrins, phthalocyanines as well as corroles. Special attention has been paid to the design principles of these dyes, and co‐sensitization, an emerging technique to extend the absorption range, is also discussed as a way to improve the performance of the device. This account also focuses on recent advances of efficient ruthenium sensitizers as well as other metal complexes and their applications in DSSCs. Recent developments in the area of metal‐free organic and tetrapyrrolic sensitizers are also discussed. DOI 10.1002/tcr.201100044     

Ultrafast Photoinduced Charge Separation Leading to High‐Energy Radical Ion‐Pairs in Directly Linked Corrole–C60 and Triphenylamine–Corrole‐C60 Donor–Acceptor Conjugates

Closely positioned donor–acceptor pairs facilitate electron‐ and energy‐transfer events, relevant to light energy conversion. Here, a triad system TPACor‐C₆₀ , possessing a free‐base corrole as central unit that linked the energy donor triphenylamine ( TPA ) at the meso position and an electron acceptor fullerene (C₆₀) at the β‐pyrrole position was newly synthesized, as were the component dyads TPA‐Cor and Cor‐C₆₀ . Spectroscopic, electrochemical, and DFT studies confirmed the molecular integrity and existence of a moderate level of intramolecular interactions between the components. Steady‐state fluorescence studies showed efficient energy transfer from ¹ TPA* to the corrole and subsequent electron transfer from ¹corrole* to fullerene. Further studies involving femtosecond and nanosecond laser flash photolysis confirmed electron transfer to be the quenching mechanism of corrole emission, in which the electron‐transfer products, the corrole radical cation ( Cor^?+ in Cor‐C₆₀ and TPA‐Cor^?+ in TPACor‐C₆₀ ) and fullerene radical anion (C₆₀^??), could be spectrally characterized. Owing to the close proximity of the donor and acceptor entities in the dyad and triad, the rate of charge separation, k_CS, was found to be about 10¹¹ s^?1, suggesting the occurrence of an ultrafast charge‐separation process. Interestingly, although an order of magnitude slower than k_CS, the rate of charge recombination, k_CR, was also found to be rapid (k_CR≈10¹⁰ s^?1), and both processes followed the solvent polarity trend DMF>benzonitrile>THF>toluene. The charge‐separated species relaxed directly to the ground state in polar solvents while in toluene, formation of ³corrole* was observed, thus implying that the energy of the charge‐separated state in a nonpolar solvent is higher than the energy of ³corrole* being about 1.52 eV. That is, ultrafast formation of a high‐energy charge‐separated state in toluene has been achieved in these closely spaced corrole–fullerene donor–acceptor conjugates.