A systematic study of the binding of carbohydrates byfunctionalized zinc porphyrins indicated that [5,15-bis(8-quinolyl)porphyrinato]zinc(II)(
1) showed marked affinity for octyl glucoside and mannosidein CHCl
3(-
G = 4.5-6.3 kcalmol
-1). Analysis of thecomplexation-induced shifts of the carbohydrate OH protons inthe
1H NMR revealed that receptor
1 bound the 4-OHgroup of mannoside and glucoside by coordination to the zincandthe 6-OH and 3-OH groups by hydrogen bonding to the quinolyl nitrogenatoms. These NMR results and comparisonof binding affinity with reference receptors and ligands indicated thatreceptor
1 recognized the
trans,
trans-1,2-dihydroxy-3-(hydroxymethyl) moiety of carbohydrates by the combinationof Lewis acid (zinc) and Lewis bases(quinolyl nitrogens). Poor affinities of
1 to octylgalactosides and octyl 2-
O-methyl-
-mannoside wereascribed toneighboring group effects, where a neighboring group in ligands notdirectly involved in the receptor-ligandinteractions had considerable influence on the affinity throughdestabilizing the hydrogen-bonding-network(s) in thereceptor-ligand complex. The circular dichroism induced in theporphyrin Soret band by complexation with thecarbohydrates displayed characteristic patterns, which parallel thepatterns of the complexation-induced shifts in the
1H NMR. The CD patterns sensitively reflected thereceptor-ligand interaction modes, particularly ligandorientationand fluctuation in the complex. Variable-temperature CD revealedthat glucoside was fluctuating on
1 whilemannosidewas rigidly fixed on
1 at room temperature. Addition ofalcohols to CHCl
3 suppressed the binding by
1,whileaddition of polar additives such as water, alcohols, phenols, andethers assisted the binding by
3 and
4(-
G =0.2-0.4 kcal mol
-1) in a low concentrationrange (0-1.5 mol %).