Bacteriochlorins are attractive candidates for a wide variety of photochemical studies owing to their strong absorption in the near-infrared spectral region. The prior acid-catalysis conditions [BF(3) x O(Et)(2) in CH(3)CN at room temperature] for self-condensation of a dihydrodipyrrin-acetal (bearing a geminal dimethyl group in the pyrroline ring) typically afforded a mixture of three macrocycles: the expected 5-methoxybacteriochlorin (MeOBC-type), a 5-unsubstituted bacteriochlorin (HBC-type), and a free base B,D-tetradehydrocorrin (TDC-type). Here, a broad survey of >20 acids identified four promising acid catalysis conditions of which TMSOTf/2,6-di-tert-butylpyridine in CH(2)Cl(2) at room temperature was most attractive owing to formation of the 5-methoxybacteriochlorin as the sole macrocycle regardless of the pyrrolic substituents in the dihydrodipyrrin-acetal (electron-withdrawing, electron-donating, or no substituent). Eleven new dihydrodipyrrin-acetals were prepared following standard routes. Application of the new acid catalysis conditions has afforded diverse bacteriochlorins (e.g., bearing alkyl/ester, aryl/ester, diester, and no substituents) in a few days from commercially available starting materials. Consideration of the synthetic steps and yields for formation of the dihydrodipyrrin-acetal and bacteriochlorin underpins evaluation of synthetic plans for early installation of bacteriochlorin substituents via the dihydrodipyrrin-acetal versus late installation via derivatization of beta-bromobacteriochlorins. Treatment of the 5-methoxybacteriochlorins with NBS gave regioselective 15-bromination when no pyrrolic substituents were present or when each pyrrole contained two substituents; on the other hand, the presence of a beta-ethoxycarbonyl group caused loss of regioselectivity. The 15 new bacteriochlorins prepared herein exhibit a long-wavelength absorption band in the range 707-759 nm, providing tunable access to the near-infrared region. Taken together, this study expands the scope of available bacteriochlorins for fundamental studies and diverse applications.

8,18, undergoes regioselective electrophilic bromination with NBS to give the 15-bromo analogue (MeO-BC-Br 15 ) in 85% yield. By contrast, the bacteriochlorin lacking the 5-methoxy group (8,8,18,18-tetramethyl-2,12-di-p-tolylbacteriochlorin, H-BC) gives a mixture of two mono-bromo and two dibromobacteriochlorins. Deuterium exchange of both bacteriochlorins (H-BC and MeO-BC) in acidic media (TFA-d) occurs preferentially at the β-pyrrole positions (3, 13) > unhindered meso-positions (5, 15 for H-BC; 15 for MeO-BC) > hindered meso-positions (10, 20). The 15-bromo-5-methoxybacteriochlorin MeO-BC-Br 15 was subjected to three types of Pd-mediated coupling reactions (Suzuki, Sonogashira, Hartwig-Buchwald) to give six bacteriochlorins bearing functional groups at the 15-position (49% to 85% yield). The groups include 4-(tert-butoxycarbonylmethoxy) phenyl, 3, phenylethynyl,. The presence of the 15-ethynyl moiety shifts the position of the long-wavelength Q y band from 732 nm to ∼753 nm. The ability to introduce a range of groups at a specific site enables synthetic bacteriochlorins to be tailored for a variety of applications.

Access to metallobacteriochlorins is essential for investigation of a wide variety of fundamental photochemical processes, yet relatively few synthetic metallobacteriochlorins have been prepared. Members of a set of synthetic bacteriochlorins bearing 0-4 carbonyl groups (1, 2, or 4 carboethoxy substituents, or an annulated imide moiety) were examined under two conditions: (i) standard conditions for zincation of porphyrins [Zn(OAc)(2)·2H(2)O in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) at 60-80 °C], and (ii) treatment in tetrahydrofuran (THF) with a strong base [e.g., NaH or lithium diisopropylamide (LDA)] followed by a metal reagent MX(n). Zincation of bacteriochlorins that bear 2-4 carbonyl groups proceeded under the former method whereas those with 0-2 carbonyl groups proceeded with NaH or LDA/THF followed by Zn(OTf)(2). The scope of metalation (via NaH or LDA in THF) is as follows: (a) for bacteriochlorins that bear two electron-releasing aryl groups, M = Cu, Zn, Pd, and InCl (but not Mg, Al, Ni, Sn, or Au); (b) for bacteriochlorins that bear two carboethoxy groups, M = Ni, Cu, Zn, Pd, Cd, InCl, and Sn (but not Mg, Al, or Au); and (c) a bacteriochlorin with four carboethoxy groups was metalated with Mg (other metals were not examined). Altogether, 15 metallobacteriochlorins were isolated and characterized. Single-crystal X-ray analysis of 8,8,18,18-tetramethylbacteriochlorin reveals the core geometry provided by the four nitrogen atoms is rectangular; the difference in length of the two sides is ∼0.08 Å. Electronic characteristics of (metal-free) bacteriochlorins were probed through electrochemical measurements along with density functional theory calculation of the energies of the frontier molecular orbitals. The photophysical properties (fluorescence yields, triplet yields, singlet and triplet excited-state lifetimes) of the zinc bacteriochlorins are generally similar to those of the metal-free analogues, and to those of the native chromophores bacteriochlorophyll a and bacteriopheophytin a. The availability of diverse metallobacteriochlorins should prove useful in a variety of fundamental photochemical studies and applications.

Cutaneous malignant melanoma remains a therapeutic challenge, and patients with advanced disease have limited survival. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been successfully used to treat many malignancies, and it may show promise as an antimelanoma modality. However, high melanin levels in melanomas can adversely affect PDT effectiveness. Herein the extent of melanin contribution to melanoma resistance to PDT was investigated in a set of melanoma cell lines that markedly differ in the levels of pigmentation; 3 new bacteriochlorins successfully overcame the resistance. Cell killing studies determined that bacteriochlorins are superior at (LD(50) approximately 0.1 microM) when compared with controls such as the FDA-approved Photofrin (LD(50) approximately 10 microM) and clinically tested LuTex (LD(50) approximately 1 microM). The melanin content affects PDT effectiveness, but the degree of reduction is significantly lower for bacteriochlorins than for Photofrin. Microscopy reveals that the least effective bacteriochlorin localizes predominantly in lysosomes, while the most effective one preferentially accumulates in mitochondria. Interestingly all bacteriochlorins accumulate in melanosomes, and subsequent illumination leads to melanosomal damage shown by electron microscopy. Fluorescent probes show that the most effective bacteriochlorin produces significantly higher levels of hydroxyl radicals, and this is consistent with the redox properties suggested by molecular-orbital calculations. The best in vitro performing bacteriochlorin was tested in vivo in a mouse melanoma model using spectrally resolved fluorescence imaging and provided significant survival advantage with 20% of cures (P<0.01).

Understanding energy transfer among hydroporphyrins is of fundamental interest and essential for a wide variety of photochemical applications. Toward this goal, a synthetic free base ethynylphenylchlorin has been coupled with a synthetic free base bromobacteriochlorin to give a phenylethyne-linked chlorin-bacteriochlorin dyad (FbC-pe-FbB). The chlorin and bacteriochlorin are each stable toward adventitious oxidation because of the presence of a geminal dimethyl group in each reduced pyrrole ring. A combination of static and transient optical spectroscopic studies indicate that excitation into the Qy band of the chlorin constituent (675 nm) of FbC-pe-FbB in toluene results in rapid energy transfer to the bacteriochlorin constituent with a rate of approximately (5 ps)(-1) and efficiency of >99%. The excited bacteriochlorin resulting from the energy-transfer process in FbC-pe-FbB has essentially the same fluorescence characteristics as an isolated monomeric reference compound, namely a narrow (12 nm fwhm) fluorescence emission band at 760 nm and a long-lived (5.4 ns) Qy excited state that exhibits a significant fluorescence quantum yield (Phif=0.19). Förster calculations are consistent with energy transfer in FbC-pe-FbB occurring predominantly by a through-space mechanism. The energy-transfer characteristics of FbC-pe-FbB are compared with those previously obtained for analogous phenylethyne-linked dyads consisting of two porphyrins or two oxochlorins. The comparisons among the sets of dyads are facilitated by density functional theory calculations that elucidate the molecular-orbital characteristics of the energy donor and acceptor constituents. The electron-density distributions in the frontier molecular orbitals provide insights into the through-bond electronic interactions that can also contribute to the energy-transfer process in the different types of dyads.