Crystal engineering with tetraarylporphyrins, an exceptionally versatile building block for the design of multidimensional supramolecular structures

Zinc meso-tetra(4-amidophenyl)porphyrin assembles into open two-dimensional arrays parallel to the porphyrin plane by self-complementary hydrogen bonding between the -CONH₂ recognition sites of adjacent molecules; manganese meso-tetraphenylporphyrin perchlorate and the bidentate 4,4′-bipyridyl ligand afford one-dimensional coordination polymers, which propagate in a direction perpendicular to the porphyrin plane; simultaneous application of these two modules of supramolecular design may lead to porous porphyrin-based materials with enhanced structural integrity.