A lipophilic analog of bilirubin with propionic acid groups replaced by undecanoic acid groups (1), was synthesized from 11-bromo-undecanoic acid. UV-visible and NMR spectroscopic analyses suggest reduced intramolecular H-bonding and a preference for a helical conformation. Molecular dynamics computations predict a global energy minimum for a helical porphyrin-like conformation with unusual distorted structures when H-bonding is ...