Superimposed saddle and ruffled distortions of the porphyrin in iodo-(pyridine-N)(5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrinato-kappa N-4)rhodium(III) toluene solvate

In the title compound, [RhI(C44H28N4)(C5H5N)].C7H8, the porphyrin ring expe riences significant distortion from planarity (a saddle conformation with a superimposed ruffling), as a result of steric interactions with the 2,6-H atoms of the axial pyridine ligand. This also leads to a slight lengthening of the Rh-pyridine bond [Rh-N 2.102 (7) Angstrom] relative to those seen i n other pyridine adducts of six-coordinate Rh-III. The metric parameters of the porphyrin core are comparable with those of related metalloporphyrin d erivatives. No significant intermolecular interactions are observed between the metalloporphyrin and disordered solvate species.