Functionalization of corroles: the nitration reaction.

The reaction of meso-triarylcorroles with AgNO2 proceeds with concomitant metalation and peripheral substitution to give the corresponding nitro-substituted silverIII corrole complex. The substitution is highly regioselective, giving only the corresponding 3-nitro derivative, among the different possible isomers. The results obtained indicate that the reaction intermediate is the pi-cation radical of the complex, which is then attacked by nitrite ion. This was proven by the reaction of the copper corrole complexes with NaNO2: in this case, the nitration reaction proceeded without the addition of an oxidant, because of the pi-cation radical character of the copper complex. The reaction is also successful in the case of 2,3,17,18-tetraethyl-8,12-diacetoxymethyl-7,13-dimethylcorrole (AMCorH3), with the formation of the meso-substituted silver corrole derivative (NO2)3AMCorAg (fully characterized by X-ray crystallography), the first of its kind to be reported. Two of the corroles are characterized by cyclic voltammetry and spectroelectrochemistry in dichloromethane, and the site of electron transfer is elucidated.