Basicity of Highly Substituted β-Octaalkyl-meso-aryl- and -meso-thienyl Porphyrins

Abstract

5-Phenyl-, 5,15-diphenyl-5,15-di(thiophen-2-yl)-, and 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyloctaalkyl-21H,23H-porphyrins in benzene–acetic acid mixtures are moderate bases (pK–0.27 to–2.48). There is no simple correlation between the basicity constants and any electronic or geometric structure parameter of their molecules due to the contributions of three factors to the basicity: distortion of the planar structure in highly substituted macrocycles and their protonated forms, positive charge delocalization over the conjugated bond system, and electronic effects of substituents.