Dendron to central core S1-S1 and S2-S(n) (n1) energy transfers in artificial special pairs containing dendrimers with limited numbers of conformations.

Two dendrimers consisting of a cofacial free-base bisporphyrin held by a biphenylene spacer and function- alized with 4-benzeneoxomethane (5-(4-benzene)tri-10,15,20-(4-n-octyl- benzene)zinc(II)porphyrin) using either five or six of the six available meso-positions, have been synthesized and characterized as models for the an- tenna effect in Photosystems I and II. The presence of the short linkers, -CH2O-, and long C8H17 soluble side chains substantially reduces the number of conformers (foldamers) compared with classic dendrimers built with longer flexible chains. This simpli- fication assists in their spectroscopic and photophysical analysis, notably with respect to fluorescence resonance…