Conjugated porphyrin arrays: synthesis, properties and applications for functional materials

Conjugated porphyrin arrays that possess delocalised electronic networks have, for the most part, been assembled by using alkene or alkyne type bridging units or by directly connecting individual porphyrin chromophores with multiple bonds to form fused porphyrin arrays. Throughout the last two decades, such conjugated porphyrin arrays have been actively explored due to their attractive electronic, optical and electrochemical properties. This review aims to cover the multitude of synthetic methodologies that have been developed for the construction of conjugated porphyrin arrays as well as to summarise their structure-property relationships and use in various applications such as near infrared (NIR) dyes, nonlinear optical materials and electron-conducting molecular wires.