Organometallic boxes built from 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)porphyrin panels and hydroxyquinonato-bridged diruthenium clips

Abstract

Self-assembly of 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)porphyrin (tpp-H 2) tetradentate panels with dinuclear arene ruthenium clips [Ru 2(η 6-arene) 2(dhbq)Cl 2] (arene = C 6H 5Me, p-Pr iC 6H 4Me, C 6Me 6; dhbq = 2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinonato) affords the cationic organometallic boxes [Ru 8(η 6-C 6H 5Me) 8(tpp-H 2) 2(dhbq) 4] 8+ ([ 1] 8+), [Ru 8(η 6- p-Pr iC 6H 4Me) 8(tpp-H 2) 2(dhbq) 4] 8+ ([ 2] 8+) and [Ru 8(η 6-C 6Me 6) 8(tpp-H 2) 2(dhbq) 4] 8+ ([ 3] 8+). These octanuclear cations have been isolated as their triflate salts and characterised by mass spectrometry, NMR and IR spectroscopy. The molecular structure of these systems was deduced by one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR experiments (ROESY, COSY, HSQC).