N -confused porphyrins as new scaffolds for supramolecular architecture

The peripheral nitrogen of N -confused porphyrins ( NCP ) can serve as a hydrogen bonding donor and acceptor, and a metal coordination site as well. NCP forms versatile dimers with the assistance of metal ions such as Pd II, Pt II, Zn II, Cd II, Hg II, Mn II and Fe II. The square-planar divalent metal complexes of C 6 F 5-substituted NCP with Cu II, Ni II and Pd II act as efficient anion binding receptors. The doubly N -confused porphyrins ( N 2 CP ), possessing both N and NH at the periphery, form self-assembled 1-D hydrogen bonding networks, whose orientations differ in cis (zigzag) and trans (straight) isomers.