Porphyrins are a unique class of aromatic tertrapyrroles that are capable of performing diverse roles in natural processes such as oxygen carriage, electron transport, etc. Due to its functional versatility, it remains the most abundant and studied “pigment of life”. Corroles, a type of contracted porphyrin have recently gained a lot of research interest for its interesting structural and spectroscopic properties. The name corrole was chosen by Johnson and Price due to its strong structural resemblance with the naturally occuring corrin ring of vitamin B12. Because of the similarity of the corroles with the 18 π-electron aromatic porphyrins, corroles are better designated as intermediates between corrins and porphyrins (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Comparative view of the structures of porphyrin, corrole and corrin.

 1. Our research interest includes elucidating the mechanism of the interaction of NO• with hemoproteins and their model compounds.

Figure 2 (a) Single-crystal X-ray structure of a representative (cor)(FeNO)6 complex, X-band EPR spectrum of (b) one-electron oxidised form and (c) one-electron reduced form of a representative complex with simulation generated by in-situ electrolysis at 295 K in CH2Cl2/0.1 M Bu4NPF6.

2. Our research interest includes the generation of corrole/metallocorrole nanostructures (e.g., nano sphere, nano tubes, etc.) and their efficient uses for various device fabrications

Figure 3 A flow-chart representation depicting the application of the nanospheres generated from a representative corrolato tin(IV) chloride in device fabrication; (a) single-crystal X-ray structure of a representative corrolato tin(IV) chloride, (b) SEM image of the nanospheres and (c) schematic representation of the device (Ag/ITO/nanospheres/ITO/Ag).

3. Our research interest includes the discoveries of efficient synthetic methodologies

Figure 4 Demetalation reaction of corrolato tin(IV) chlorides.

4. Our research interest includes stabilization of unusual oxidation states

Figure 5 (a) Single-crystal X-ray structure, (b) Spin density representation for one-electron oxidised form and (c) UV-Vis-NIR spectra of one-electron oxidised form in CH2Cl2: TDDFT-based electronic absorption spectra (──) and experimentally obtained electronic absorption spectra (──) of a representative silver(III) corrolato complex.