Porphyrazines, or tetraazaporphyrins, are

tetrapyrrole Tetrapyrroles are a class of chemical compounds that contain four pyrrole or pyrrole-like rings. The pyrrole/pyrrole derivatives are linked by ( =- or -- units), in either a linear or a cyclic fashion. Pyrroles are a five-atom ring with four car ...

macrocycles similar to

porphyrins Porphyrins ( ) are a group of heterocyclic macrocycle organic compounds, composed of four modified pyrrole subunits interconnected at their α carbon atoms via methine bridges (=CH−). The parent of porphyrin is porphine, a rare chemical compo ...

and

phthalocyanine Phthalocyanine () is a large, aromatic, macrocyclic, organic compound with the formula and is of theoretical or specialized interest in chemical dyes and photoelectricity. It is composed of four isoindole units linked by a ring of nitrogen ato ...

s. Pioneered by Sir R. Patrick Linstead as an extension of his work on phthalocyanines, porphyrazines differ from porphyrins in that they contain -meso nitrogen atoms, rather than carbon atoms, and differ from phthalocyanines in that their β-pyrrole positions are open for substitution. These differences confer physical properties that are distinct from both porphyrins and phthalocyanines.

Synthesis

Porphyrazines are prepared by magnesium templated cyclization of maleonitriles. Cross-cyclization with

phthalonitrile Phthalonitrile is an organic compound with the formula C6H4(CN)2, which is an off-white crystal solid at room temperature. It is a derivative of benzene, containing two adjacent nitrile groups. The compound has low solubility in water but is sol ...

or diiminoisoindole derivatives is possible introducing a flexibile synthetic route that has led to the synthesis of porphyrazines with peripheral

heterocyclic A heterocyclic compound or ring structure is a cyclic compound that has atoms of at least two different elements as members of its ring(s). Heterocyclic chemistry is the branch of organic chemistry dealing with the synthesis, properties, and ...

rings,

heteroatom In chemistry, a heteroatom () is, strictly, any atom that is not carbon or hydrogen. Organic chemistry In practice, the term is usually used more specifically to indicate that non-carbon atoms have replaced carbon in the backbone of the molecula ...

substituents (S, O, N), peripherally bound metal atoms, and mixed -benzo porphyrazine systems.Miwa, H., Ishii, K., Kobayashi, N., Electronic Structures of Zinc and Palladium Tetraazaporphyrin Derivatives Controlled by Fused Benzo Rings. ''Chemistry - A European Journal'', 2004,10, 4422–4435.

Optical properties

Porphyrazines are most well known for their intense electronic absorption throughout the UV, visible, and NIR spectral regions. Electronic absorption spectra for porphyrazines are similar to those of phthalocyanines, with an intense Soret band (λ ≈ 300 - 400 nm) and Q-band (λ > 600 nm). Porphyrazines exhibit

fluorescence Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...

from the first excited

singlet state In quantum mechanics, a singlet state usually refers to a system in which all electrons are paired. The term 'singlet' originally meant a linked set of particles whose net angular momentum is zero, that is, whose overall spin quantum number s=0. A ...

(S₁ → S₀) at visible and NIR wavelengths which is typical of tetrapyrrole macrocycles. Dual-emission from organic fluorophores is not common but, as observed in phthalocyanines, violet emission from an upper excited state (S₂ → S₀) is observed in porphyrazines.

References

{{Reflist Tetrapyrroles