Highly selective chlorosulfonation of tris(pentafluorophenyl)corrole as a synthetic tool for the preparation of amphiphilic corroles and metal complexes of planar chirality.

[reaction: see text]. The chlorosulfonation of tris(pentafluorophenyl)corrole proceeds with an extremely high selectivity as to afford one out of 139 possible isomers in very high yield. The bis-chlorosulfonated corrole is an excellent precursor to the planar-chirality (triphenylphosphine)cobalt(III) complex (fully characterized by X-ray crystallography) and to the amphiphilic bis-sulfonic acid derivative, both the first of their kind.