Selective sulfonation and deuteration of free-base corroles

We show that, despite the 139 possible products, tris(pentafluorophenyl)corrole is sulfonated by H 2 SO 4 in quantitative yield to a 9:1 mixture of only the 2,17- and 3,17- isomers and that its deuteration by trifluoroacetic acid-d proceeds in the order of C 3,17 > C 2,18 >> C 8,12 > C 7,13. These results add confidence to the feasibility of electrophilic substitution of corroles as a synthetic tool to many novel derivatives.