[meso-5,10,15,20-Tetra­kis(3-methyl­thio­phen-2-yl)porphyrinato-κ⁴N,N′,N′′,N′′′]nickel(II) benzene hemisolvate

In the title compound, [Ni(C₄₀H₂₈N₄S₄)]·0.5C₆H₆, the Ni^II atom is in a square-planar geometry defined by four pyrrole N atoms. There is considerable buckling in the porphyrin ring with the dihedral angles between the N₄ donor set and the pyrrole rings being in the range 16.24 (5)–22.47 (5)°. Each of the six-membered chelate rings is twisted about an Ni—N bond and the dihedral angles between diagonally opposite chelate rings are 21.36 (4) and 23.87 (4)°; each pair of rings is oriented in opposite directions. The methyl­thienyl rings are twisted out of the plane of the central N₄ core with dihedral angles in the range 75.98 (2)–88.70 (5)°. All four methyl­thienyl groups are disordered over two sets of sites, as is commonly found with such groups, with occupancies of 0.553 (8):0.447 (8), 0.579 (7):0.421 (7), 0.796 (6):0.204 (6) and 0.956 (7):0.044 (7). The benzene solvent mol­ecule was found to be present in half-occupancy.