The sterically hindered [5-(2Ј-cyanovinyl)mesoporphyrin dimethyl ester]nickel complex 1 has been treated with N-methylformanilide under Vilsmeier conditions. Besides the expected meso-formylporphyrin derivatives, 22 % of a novel green compound was isolated. After removal of Ni 2+ by treatment with concentrated sulfuric acid, the structure of the novel compound was elucidated by mass spectrometry and 1 H and 13 C NMR spectroscopy, which led to the unambiguous establishment of the unprecedented racemic dimethyl ester of 2Ј-cyano-8Ј-formyl-NЈ-methyl-1,1a,5a,6-tetrahydroacrido[4,5,5a,6-bcd]-annulated 2,3-dihydromesoporphyrin structure 5. This racemic form was efficiently separated into its two pure enantiomeric forms each of which shows the same electronic spectrum as the racemate mixture. The two optical isomers show the exact opposite circular dichroism spectra. The structure of this novel product is clearly formed after the initial attack of the carbenium ion formed from N-methylformanilide and POCl 3 at the α-carbon atom of the appending meso-acrylonitrile function. This process is thus far an unprecedented cyclization process under Vilsmeier conditions. It is clear that in this case the aromatic
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