Novel peripherally tetra substituted phthalocyanines: Synthesis, characterization, photophysical and photochemical properties

Abstract In this paper, phthalonitrile (3) and it's zinc(II) (4) and magnessium (II) phthalocyanine (5) derivatives were prepared. The novel compounds (3–5) were characterized spectroscopically. The photochemical and photophysical properties compounds (4 and 5) were examined to determine whether they are suitable photosensitizers for PDT applications. The magnessium (II) phthalocyanine (5) produced low amount of singlet oxygen and high fluorescence quantum yield. However, the zinc(II) phthalocyanine (4) had potential to be used in PDT applications with it's high singlet oxygen production and high photostability.