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

The synthesis of bowl‐shaped antiaromatic molecules represents a formidable challenge, 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 C60 with bonding constants of 2.89 × 103 M–1 and 1.59 × 103 M–1, respectively. The formation of a 1:1 complex between the fused monoanthrylnorcorrole and C60 was confirmed by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis. The effective expansion of the π‐conjugation through the triple fusion of the norcorrole with the anthracene units substantially enhances the near‐infrared absorption bands, which endows these anthrylnorcorroles with effective photothermal conversion.