Photophysical Behaviour of Corrole and its Symmetrical and Unsymmetrical Dyads

The luminescence properties at room temperature and 77 K of octamethylcorrole are reported for the first time, together with the photophysical behaviour of corrole-corrole and porphyrin-corrole dyads covalently linked through the 10-position with a phenyl bridge. The photophysical properties of corrole free base are very similar to those of the porphyrin analogues, whereas the dimeric systems show luminescence bands different from those of the parent monomers, indicating an unexpectedly high degree of interaction between the chromophores. The porphyrin-corrole dyad undergoes photocatalysed ring opening of the corrole moiety to give the corresponding porphyrin-biliverdin species.