A mild synthetic route to α-nitroso diaryl pyrroles.

A new synthetic method to access α-nitroso pyrroles is presented. This method utilises the nitrosonium salt NOBF4, enabling short reaction times (<10 minutes) and avoiding the harsh acidic conditions usually associated with pyrrole nitrosation. Application of this procedure to diarylated pyrroles yielded several novel nitroso-pyrroles. Modifications to the method, through exclusion of air and inclusion of a mild base, allowed for the nitrosation of pyrroles bearing aryl groups substituted with electron-donating groups. Attempts to nitrosylate pyrroles bearing alkyl substituents resulted in the formation of a dimeric material composed of a pyrrolic unit and a 2-hydroxyimino-protected 1,5-dihydro-2H-pyrrol-2-one.

Synthesis and characterization of pyrrolyldipyrrin F-BODIPYs.

A series of synthetic analogs of the tripyrrolic natural product prodigiosin were complexed with boron trifluoride to generate the corresponding F-BODIPYs. The maximum wavelengths of absorption and emission of the pyrrolyldipyrrin F-BODIPYs were tuned through variation of the substituents about the pyrrolyldipyrrinato core. The limited variation of substituents on the C-ring did not significantly affect absorption and emission. However, variation of substituents on the B-ring and A-ring resulted in a corresponding red-shift in absorption and emission reaching maximum wavelengths of 600 nm. The presence of electron donating substituents on the B-ring caused a decrease in the Stokes shift, while the presence of electron-withdrawing substituents caused an increase, ranging from 3-25 nm. Stokes shifts were solvent-dependant for some compounds. The inclusion of a dimethylamino group resulted in photo-induced electron transfer and thus quenched fluorescence which was restored upon protonation.