Rational Syntheses of Imidazolyl Porphyrins

Significance

The authors developed ‘masked’ imidazolyl dipyrromethanes, key ingredients for the syntheses of imidazole-substituted porphyrins. Unlike the conventional statistical synthesis, the authors could incorporate diimidazole groups to the apposite positions (trans-A₂B₂-porphyrins) in an improved yield. Furthermore, the imidazole nitrogens were alkylated to improve water solubility.