Synthesis and characterization of the new 22-π aromatic furan-containing macrocycle, “ozaphyrin”

The new 22-π, aromatic “pentaplanar” macrocycle, ozaphyrin ( 6 ), has been synthesized by a McMurry coupling of 5,5′-diformyl-4,4′-dipropyl-2,2′-bipyrrole ( 1 ) with 2,5-bis(5-formyl-4-propyl-2-pyrrolyl)furan ( 5 ). This synthetic pathway to ozaphyrin and its characterization by ¹H nmr spectroscopy, uv-visible spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and X-ray crystallography are described. The structure consists of layers of planar, staggered macrocycles stacked perpendicular to the α-axis. Ozaphyrin crystallizes with four formula units in the monoclinic space group C⁵_2h-P2₁/n in a cell of dimensions a = 10.481(7) Å, b = 17.353(17) Å, c = 18.726(12) Å, and β = 102.84(5)° (108 K). The structure has been refined on F² (5171 unique reflections, 411 variables) to R_w(F_o²) = 0.165. The conventional agreement index R(F) is 0.074 for the 3289 reflections have F_o²>2o(F_o²).