The novel five- and seven-membered ring appended aminoporphyrazines 3 and 12 have been prepared via mixed Linstead macrocyclization. The structures of both have been unequivocally established by X-ray crystallographic studies. Reductive deselenation of selenadiazole 3 in the presence of 9,10-phenanthrenequinone or 2,3-butanedione results in the formation of pyrazines 6a,b, whereas oxidation of porphyrazine 12 gave the corresponding seco derivative 14. seco-Porphyrazine 14 mediates the generation of singlet oxygen with a quantum yield of 0.74.

It is rare that such a diverse array of applications can be realized from a single basic molecular unit, however, such is the power of the tetrapyrrolic macrocycle motif. Indeed, their potential in areas such as chemical dyes, optical sensors, optoelectronics, and biomedical agents is a function of their rich electronic and optical properties. While the naturally occurring porphyrins and the synthetic phthalocyanines have been extensively studied, the related tetraazaporphyrins or porphyrazines remain comparatively underdeveloped. Since porphyrazines maintain a unique position in this family: analogous derivatives are virtually inaccessible for the porphyrins, and direct fusion of heteroatomic substituents onto the porphyrazine β-positions results in a more pronounced effect compared with the substitution of an equivalent group onto the benzenoid rings of the phthalocyanine; a driving force exists to further explore the synthesis and applications of these novel macrocycles. This review will provide a historical overview of the synthetic strategies towards functionalized porphyrazines and describe new strategies towards the preparation and applications of heteroatom-appended porphyrazines, particularly in the context of their multimetallic complexes, catalysis, surface chemistry, and as biomedical agents.

We report the synthesis and physical characterization of a series of peripherally functionalized porphyrazines (pz's) 1[M(1); M(2); R], where M(1) is a metal ion incorporated into the pz core, M(2) is a metal ion bound to a bis(5-tert-butyl-salicylidenimine) chelate built onto two amino nitrogen attached to the pz periphery, and R is a solubilizing group (either n-propyl (Pr) or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl (TMP) group) attached to the remaining carbons of the pz periphery. The 1[M(1); M(2); R] species are prepared from precursor pz's with a selenodiazole ring; they are deprotected to form the diamino pz, which reacts with two moles of 5-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde to form the Schiff base pz. This is metalated to form 1[M(1); M(2); R]. The crystal structures of 1[2H; Ni; Pr] and 1[Cu; ClMn; Pr] are presented. The EPR spectra of the M(1)-M(2) "isomers" prepared with Cu(II) (S = (1)/(2)) and ClMn(III) (S = 2) ions, 1[ClMn; Cu; Pr] and 1[Cu; ClMn; TMP], are a superposition of spectra expected for the S = (3)/(2) and S = (5)/(2) total-spin manifolds that result from strong Heisenberg coupling between the partner spins. The exchange splitting between the two manifolds, as determined by temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements, is equivalent for the two M(1)-M(2) "isomers", Delta/k(B) approximately 20-25 K, which suggests a sigma-pathway for exchange coupling.