Narrow Results

In addition to controlling the structure of multi-chromophoric arrays, monitoring the spatial orientation of the chromophores in artificial light harvesting devices is a challenge of growing interest. We report in this article our recent advances in this field. It is expected that a better understanding of the physicochemical properties of rigid cofacial porphyrinic tweezers and an identification of the factors governing them will be crucial for the design and the elaboration of new nano-molecules endowed with original properties. Extended multi-porphyrinic architectures, polypeptides bearing pendant porphyrins have been synthesized as linear devices, and a star-like pentaporphyrin as an arborescent array. The structure and the original conformation of the latter confer to this system an unusual duality in its physicochemical properties.

A pyridyl side arm porphyrin incorporating C${}_{10}$ alkyl chains at the periphery of the porphyrin suitable for surface immobilisation on HOPG has been synthesised and tested for two state switching in solution. Temperature switching, involving reversible complexation of a covalently appended pyridyl side arm to the Zn(II) porphyrin, was comprehensively characterised by using variable temperature ¹H NMR (-30 to +100${}^{\circ }$C) and UV-vis (10 to 90${}^{\circ }$C) in toluene. Molecular modelling assisted in understanding strain within the complex.