Synthesis and Characterization of Rare Earth Corrole-Phthalocyanine Heteroleptic Triple-Decker Complexes

Inorg Chem. 2015 Jun 15;54(12):5795-805. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b00477. Epub 2015 May 28.

Abstract

We recently reported the first example of a europium triple-decker tetrapyrrole with mixed corrole and phthalocyanine macrocycles and have now extended the synthetic method to prepare a series of rare earth corrole-phthalocyanine heteroleptic triple-decker complexes, which are characterized by spectroscopic and electrochemical methods. The examined complexes are represented as M2[Pc(OC4H9)8]2[Cor(ClPh)3], where Pc = phthalocyanine, Cor = corrole, and M is Pr(III), Nd(III), Sm(III), Eu(III), Gd(III), or Tb(III). The Y(III) derivative with OC4H9 Pc substituents was obtained in too low a yield to characterize, but for the purpose of comparison, Y2[Pc(OC5H11)8]2[Cor(ClPh)3] was synthesized and characterized in a similar manner. The molecular structure of Eu2[Pc(OC4H9)8]2[Cor(ClPh)3] was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and showed the corrole to be the central macrocycle of the triple-decker unit with a phthalocyanine on each end. Each triple-decker complex undergoes up to eight reversible or quasireversible one-electron oxidations and reductions with E1/2 values being linearly related to the ionic radius of the central ions. The energy (E) of the main Q-band is also linearly related to the radius of the metal. Comparisons are made between the physicochemical properties of the newly synthesized mixed corrole-phthalocyanine complexes and previously characterized double- and triple-decker derivatives with phthalocyanine and/or porphyrin macrocycles.