Nickel(II) complexes of cycloalkanoporphyrins (CAPs) bearing a saturated carbon ring of varying size between pyrrole C-beta and methine bridge carbon atoms are widespread in crude oil and related organic rich sediments. We have synthesized a series of NiCAPs containing meso,beta-ethano (NiCAP5), meso,beta-propano (NiCAP6), and meso,beta-butano (NiCAP7) groups and applied UV-visible absorption and resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopies to investigate the effects of the exocyclic ring size on the porphyrin structure and to establish vibrational CAP marker frequencies for petroporphyrins in fossil fuels. The RR spectra of NiCAPs, excited at or near porphyrin Soret (similar to 400 nm) and Q (510-580 mn) bands are informative and display a rich array of skeletal and alkyl substituent modes. High-frequency (1300-1700 cm(-1)) structure-sensitive RR bands shift down considerably (up to 24 cm(-1)) with increasing size of the exocyclic ring, implicating increased nonplanar distortions of the tetrapyrrole macrocycle. Unlike in other petroporphyrins studied thus far, etio- and tetrahydrobenzoporphyrins, out-of-plane distortions of the porphyrin imposed by the meso,beta-cycloalkano ring are also sufficient to destroy the center of symmetry of the porphyrin pi-system and produce significant enhancement of the IR-active E(u) skeletal modes in the Q-band-excited RR spectra. The UV-visible absorption spectra also vary with the size of the exocyclic ring; both the Soret and Q bands progressively red shift as the cycloalkano chain becomes longer, implying a destabilization of the two highest occupied pi orbitals in NiCAP6 and NiCAP7. In addition, the size of the exocyclic ring in NiCAPs can be readily determined from the frequency of the similar to 900 cm(-1) marker band and the characteristic patterns of skeletal and substituent bands in the 700-1200 and nu(4) (similar to 1380 cm(-1)) regions.