5,15-Diaryl-β-substituted-porphyrinato-manganese(III) chlorides as probes for structure–activity relationships in porphyrin-based epoxidation catalysts

Manganese complexes of 5,15-diaryl-β-substituted-porphyrins were prepared and their behaviour as oxidation catalysts was studied. The role of the pyrrolic and meso-substituents on the activity and selectivity of these catalysts was studied to reveal new structure–activity relationships in these porphyrin-based epoxidation catalysts. The beneficial effect of the halogen atoms at the meso-phenyls is still observed with these catalysts but, for the first time, a strong dependence on the selectivity of the epoxide production was found to be dependent on the nature of the non-halogen substituents at the β-pyrrolic positions of the porphyrin. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.