Effects induced by axial ligands binding to tetrapyrrole-based aromatic metallomacrocycles

The axial positions of planar metallomacrocycles are unoccupied. The positively charged metal is thus a potential binding site for electron-donating groups. The binding strength is affected by the central metal, the ligand, and the macrocycle. One ligand leads to the out-of-plane displacement of the central metal, whereas two ligands from two sides structurally neutralize each other. The axial ligand donates charge to the central metal and the macrocycle when the lone pair orients along the interaction axis. The frontier orbital levels are elevated because of the charge donated to the macrocycle. Even though the singlet-triplet gap and the absorption maximum do not change significantly upon binding, the redox chemistry is considerably affected by the shifts of orbital levels. The macrocyclic M-N bonds are weakened by the binding, but their natures remain almost unchanged. Calcium phthalocyanine is a special case, as the central calcium is too large to fit the cavity. Accordingly, multiple ligands facilely bind to the calcium from one side. The aluminum phthalocyanine halogen is another special case, as it has a halogen ligand coordinating to the aluminum through a nondative bond. This leads to some effects different from those caused by dative binding. When there is no considerable steric demand, the lone pair points along the interaction axis to facilitate the donation. When in a stacked dimer, the electron-rich group is part of a large molecule, and the orientation of the lone pair is approximately perpendicular to the interaction axis. This induces the charge loss of the central metal. Because metallomacrocycles are widespread in the biological, medical, and material sciences, the results from this study are expected to bring useful insights to these fields.