Charge-transfer complexes of meso-substituted porphines

Charge-transfer (CT) complexes of 5,10,15,20-tetramethyl-21H,23H-porphine H₂(tmp)] and 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-21H,23H-porphine H₂(tpp)] have been prepared with TCNQ-type (TCNQ = 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) acceptors. The complexes crystallize in a mixed-stacked structure. The electronic state of the complexes has been investigated by combining structural geometry information of the acceptors with vibrational spectroscopy data. The complexes were found to possess neutral ground states. The difference between the donor oxidation potential and the acceptor reduction potential (ΔE) also supports this designation of their electronic states. The CT absorption energy shows a linear correlation with ΔE, which is expected for CT complexes in their neutral ground states. The frontier orbitals of the porphyrin donor that participate in the CT interactions have been examined by calculating the overlap integral between the donor occupied molecular orbitals and acceptor LUMO in the complexes. In the H₂(tmp) and H₂(tpp) complexes, a_2u- and a_1u-type porphyrin HOMO and next-HOMO, respectively, are suggested to both be contributors to the establishment of π–π* CT interactions and formation of the complex.