N-confused porphyrins as new scaffolds for supramolecular architecture

The peripheral nitrogen of N-confused porphyrins (NCP) can serve as a hydrogen bonding donor and acceptor, and a metal coordination site as well. NCP forms versatile dimers with the assistance of metal ions such as Pd ^II, Pt^II, Zn^II, Cd^II, Hg ^II, Mn^II and Fe^II. The square-planar divalent metal complexes of C₆F₆-substituted NCP with Cu ^II, Ni^II and Pd^II act as efficient anion binding receptors. The doubly N-confused porphyrins (N₂CP), possessing both N and NH at the periphery, form self-assembled 1-D hydrogen bonding networks, whose orientations differ in cis (zigzag) and trans (straight) isomers.