Two examples of boron-containing compounds that have been linked to porphyrin are BODIPY and diketonate.
The BODIPY chromophore acts as an antenna: it absorbs a broad range of UV-visible light, then emits at a wavelength compatible with porphyrin absorption, allowing for efficient energy transfer.
This work has been extended to triads and to porphyrins with various core transition metals, some displaying multiphoton excitation.
On the other hand, when boron difluoride β-diketonate is used for an antenna, the emission-absorption overlap is small and little change in the porphyrin's optical properties is observed. Though this chromophore is preferable to BODIPY in certain applications, it is not an effective antenna for porphyrin.