Formation and properties of cyclo[6]pyrrole and cyclo[7]pyrrole.

Oxidative coupling of a tetraalkylbipyrrole under FeIII-mediated coupling conditions in the presence of HCl results in a mixture of cyclo[6]- and cyclo[7]pyrroles, as well as the known cyclo[8]pyrrole. This “matched set” of heteroannulenes was analyzed by spectroscopic, electrochemical, and X-ray diffraction methods.