meso-Dithiole and tetrathiafulvalene dipyrromethanes a route to metal dithiole–dipyrrin complexes and to fluorescent tetrathiafulvalene–BODIPY

A series of meso-dithiole and tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) dipyrromethanes have been prepared via the reaction of the appropriate aldehyde with either pyrrole or 3-ethyl-2,4-dimethyl-pyrrole under acid catalysis. Oxidation to the corresponding meso-dithiole dipyrrins is reported together with the formation of the metal chelate complexes (M=Zn, Cu, Ni) as well as the meso-dithiole boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY). The molecular structures of these metal (Cu, Ni) and boron complexes are presented and discussed. According to a similar strategy the meso-TTF BODIPY is prepared and its photophysical properties are presented and compared with those of the meso-dithiole BODIPY.