Conformationally Locked Cyclo[2]Dipyrrins Linked with Anthracene Subunits: Synthesis and Chiroptical Properties

Herein, we report the synthesis of anthracene-containing twisted cyclo[2]dipyrrin 1 by utilizing a non-planar building block, 1,5-dipyrrylanthracene (1,5-DPA). The non-planar nature of the macrocycle enhanced the solubility and helped in structural characterization. Macrocycle 1 adopts a twisted ‘figure of eight’ conformation stabilized by strong intramolecular H-bonding interactions and exists as a pair of helical enantiomers, as revealed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. More importantly, the sterically locked structure enabled facile optical resolution using chiral HPLC. The (P,P) and (M,M) enantiomers show moderate chiroptical properties, such as absorption dissymmetry factors |g_abs| in the order of 10⁻³, and luminescence dissymmetry factors |g_lum| of 3.8×10⁻³ and 2.9×10⁻³ at 702 nm, respectively.