An approach to porphyrin-based molecular wires: synthesis of a bis(porphyrin)tetraone and its conversion to a linearly conjugated tetrakisporphyrin system

An approach to molecular wires based on quasi-one-dimensional linearly conjugated poly-porphyrin systems is outlined and a rationally designed synthesis of the tetrakisporphyrin 9, a strand some 65 Å in length, via the bis(porphyrin)tetraone 2 is described.