Chlorido(pyridine-κN)(5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrinato-κ4N)cobalt(III) chloroform hemisolvate

In the title complex, [CoCl(C 44 H 28 N 4 )(C 5 H 5 N)]·0.5CHCl 3 or [Co III (TPP)Cl(py)]·0.5CHCl 3 (where TPP is the dianion of tetraphenylporphyrin and py is pyridine), the average equatorial cobalt–pyrrole N atom bond length (Co—N p ) is 1.958 (7) Å and the axial Co—Cl and Co—N py distances are 2.2339 (6) and 1.9898 (17) Å, respectively. The tetraphenylporphyrinate dianion exhibits an important nonplanar conformation with major ruffling and saddling distortions. In the crystal, molecules are linked via weak C—H...π interactions. In the difference Fourier map, a region of highly disordered electron density was estimated using the SQUEEZE routine [ PLATON ; Spek (2009), Acta Cryst. D 65 , 148–155] to be equivalent to one half-molecule of CHCl 3 per molecule of the complex.