Development of porphyrin syntheses

Abstract

Hans Fischer (Munich, Germany) and S. Fergus MacDonald (Ottawa, Canada) devised efficient porphyrin syntheses based on condensation reactions of dipyrromethenes (Fischer) or dipyrromethanes (MacDonald). These historically significant processes and subsequent developments are discussed, along with monopyrrole tetramerizations that give 5,10,15,20-tetra-arylporphyrins, to show that the art of porphyrin synthesis continues to flourish.