Syntheses of per-15N labeled etioporphyrins I–IV and a related tetrahydrobenzoporphyrin for applications in organic geochemistry and vibrational spectroscopy

Nitrogen-15 labeled pyrroles have been prepared from commercially available 15N glycine or sodium nitrite using the Barton-Zard, Knorr, and Kleinspehn approaches. These pyrroles were used as intermediates in the synthesis of per-15N labeled porphyrins needed for the analysis and assignment of vibrational spectra for sedimentary porphyrins. Etioporphyrin-I was prepared via pyrromethene intermediates, while etioporphyrins II–V and a related tetrahydrobenzoporphyrin were synthesized via stepwise routes involving the copper(II) mediated cyclization of a,c-biladienes as the key step. Detailed analyses of both the proton and carbon-13 NMR spectra provide nitrogen-15 coupling constants for these important structures.