Smaragdyrins and Sapphyrins Analogues

Porphyrins and expanded porphyrins have attracted the attention of chemists for a long time in view of their diverse applications in catalysis; as anion, cation, and neutral substrate receptors; as ligands to coordinate large metal ions; as nonlinear optical materials, MRI contrasting agents, and sensitizers for photodynamic therapy (PDT); and more recently as models for aromaticity (both Hückel and Möbius). A diverse range of synthetic expanded porphyrins containing up to 96π electrons have been reported, and their properties have been exploited for various applications. The present Review is only confined to 22π electron expanded porphyrins containing five pyrrole/heterocyclic rings such as sapphyrins and smaragdyrins. Even though these two macrocycles contain 22π electrons and five pyrrole/heterocyclic rings, they are structurally different. In sapphyrins, the five pyrrole/heterocyclic rings are connected through four meso-carbon bridges and one direct pyrrole-pyrrole bond, whereas in smaragdyrins, the five pyrrole/heterocyclic rings are connected through three meso-carbon bridges and two direct pyrrole-pyrrole bonds. The chemistry of sapphyrins has been well-established in recent years due to the availability of easy and efficient synthetic methods. On the other hand, smaragdyrins are not explored significantly because of their unstable nature. However, recently it was shown that smaragdyrins can be stabilized if one of the pyrrole rings is replaced with a furan ring to afford stable oxasmaragdyrin. The availability of oxasmaragdyrin allowed the exploration of smaragdyrin in recent years. Thus, an attempt has been made in this Review to describe the chemistry of both sapphyrins and smaragdyrins in terms of their synthesis, characterization, metal ion coordination, and anion-recognition properties.