The syntheses, spectroscopic and photophysical properties, and molecular structures of azido-(1), cyanato-N-(2), thio cyanato-N-(3), and cyanido-(4) (meso-tetraphenylporphyrinato)zinc(II) complexes are reported. These species were prepared by using cryptand-222 to solubilize the pseudohalide salts in organic solvents. The UV/Vis spectra of these zinc metalloporphyrins are solvent-dependent and exhibit large redshifted Soret bands compared with those of the [Zn(Porph)L] derivatives in which Porph is a meso-porphyrinato ligand and L is a monodentate neutral axial ligand. The room-temperature fluorescence spectra of the zinc complexes 1-4 indicate that the Q bands are not very affected by the nature of the axial ligands, and their positions are very close to those of previously reported (meso-porphyrinato)zinc complexes. The quantum yields of the S 1 Ǟ S o fluorescence of 1-4 range between 2.8 and 5.5 %, and their fluorescence lifetimes are the same (1.7 ns). Cyclic voltammetry investigations on 1-4 show that the characteristic potentials for the reduction and the two first oxidations of the porphyrin ring
2596are not very affected by the nature of the axial ligand. A third irreversible oxidation of the porphyrin ring is observed. Additional anodic irreversible waves are observed for the thiocyanato-N (3) and cyanido (4) species. The solid-state molecular structures of 1-4 are the first examples of zinc porphyrin complexes with anionic ligands. The average equatorial zinc-pyrrole N atom (Zn-N p ) distances for 1-4 range between 2.083(1) and 2.117(2) Å and are much longer than those of the related pentacoordinate zinc porphyrin complexes with monodentate neutral ligands. As a consequence, the displacement of the Zn 2+ cation from the mean 24-atom plan of the porphyrin core is significant (ca. 0.5 Å), and the porphyrin core is very distorted. The crystal structures of 1-4 are stabilized by weak intermolecular π interactions, CH···Cg (Cg are the centroids of some six-membered phenyl rings and five-membered pyrrole rings). The molecular structure of 1 is further stabilized by weak intermolecular C-H···N hydrogen bonds between one carbon atom of cryptand-222 and the terminal nitrogen atom of the azido ligand.