Investigation of photophysical and photochemical properties of phthalocyanines bearing fluorinated groups

This study presents synthesis of novel peripherally tetrasubstituted Zn(II) and In(III) phthalocyanine complexes bearing 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy groups. These phthalocyanines were characterized by performing elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and ultraviolet visible spectrophotometric techniques. Aggregation properties of the resulting phthalocyanines were studied in different concentrations of DMSO. Aggregation behavior of the newly synthesized phthalocyanines was investigated in various organic solvents, as well. Photochemical and photophysical characterization of the resulting compounds were carried out to evaluate their photodynamic therapy properties in DMSO. The new metallophthalocyanines have high singlet oxygen quantum yields ranging from 0.72 to 0.88.