The Crystal Structure of an Octaethylporphyrin Dimer Bridged by a 2,5-Disubstituted Furan

Abstract

The crystal structure of a dimer of 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethylporphyrin, joined at the meso-positions through a 2,5-disubstituted furan, shows the furan ring to be almost orthogonal to the porphyrin mean planes. Bond angles and distances in the furan ring and adjacent parts of the porphyrin rings are distorted due to steric congestion involving the ethyl substituents. The dizinc complex of this bis( porphyrinyl )furan exhibits a split Soret band in its electronic spectrum; this indicates strong excitonic coupling between the porphyrin chromophores.