Bowl‐Shaped Anthracene‐Fused Antiaromatic Ni(II) Norcorrole: Synthesis, Structure, Assembly with C60, and Photothermal Conversion

The synthesis of bowl-shaped antiaromatic molecules is challenging because the molecular distortion further destabilizes these already inherently reactive molecules. Here, we report the synthesis and properties of bowl-shaped fused anthrylnorcorroles that exhibit near-infrared (NIR) absorption reaching 1900 nm. The oxidation of meso-anthryldibromodipyrrin provides fused anthryldibromodipyrrin, which was converted to the fused mono- and bisanthrylnorcorroles through Ni(0)-mediated intramolecular coupling with a bis(dibromodipyrrin) Ni(II) complex. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses revealed bowl-shaped structures for the fused mono- and bisanthrylnorcorroles, which enables them to act as suitable receptors for C