Between porphyrins and phthalocyanines: 10,20-diaryl-5,15-tetrabenzodiazaporphyrins.

meso-Diaryltetrabenzo(opp)diazaporphyrins are made readily available via Curtius rearrangement of azidocarbonyl derivatives of meso-aryldibenzodipyrromethenes, readily generated with or without isolation from tert-butoxycarbonyl derivatives of the same system. The new tetrapyrrolic dyes are isostructural with 5,15-diaryltetrabenzoporphyrins and resemble both phthalocyanines and tetrabenzoporphyrins to afford an interesting new system for optical applications and material research.