Molecular Recognition of Modified Porphyrins

Functionalized porphyrins are very useful for mimicking biochemical functions of heme enzymes. The flat and relatively rigid structure of porphyrins make it easy to design and construct various types of molecular recognition sites on a porphyrin plane. Porphyrins are also very attractive molecules as a "platform" for molecular recognition from the synthetic chemistry viewpoint. In this article, the methodology for syntheses of recognition sites on porphyrins and resulting functions are described. 1. Introduction 2. Molecular Recognition of Nucleobase 3. Molecular Recognition of Amino Acid 4. Molecular Recognition of Hydrophobic Molecule 5. Conclusion