Synthesis of a novel unsymmetrical Zn(II) phthalocyanine bearing a phenyl ethynyl moiety as sensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cells

Phthalocyanines Synthesis: A State-of-The-Art Review of Sustainable Approaches Through Green Chemistry Metrics

Driven by escalating environmental concerns, synthetic chemistry faces an urgent need for a green revolution. Green chemistry, with its focus on low environmental impacting chemicals and minimized waste production, emerges as a powerful tool in addressing this challenge. Metrics such as the E-factor guide the design of environmentally friendly strategies for chemical processes by quantifying the waste generated in obtaining target products, thus enabling interventions to minimize it. Phthalocyanines (Pcs), versatile molecules with exceptional physical and chemical properties, hold immense potential for technological applications. This review aims to bridge the gap between green chemistry and phthalocyanine synthesis by collecting the main examples of environmentally sustainable syntheses documented in the literature. The calculation of the E-factor of a selection of them provides insights on how crucial it is to evaluate a synthetic process in its entirety. This approach allows for a better evaluation of the actual sustainability of the phthalocyanine synthetic process and indicates possible strategies to improve it.

Sustainable Approaches to the Synthesis of Metallophthalocyanines in Solution

This work aims to investigate more sustainable reaction conditions for the synthesis of metallophthalocyanines. Anisole, glycerol and their mixtures have been investigated as reaction media for the tetramerization of phthalonitriles. Acetates of three divalent first-transition metal cations, Co(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II), were used and several bases were tested, depending on the chosen substrates and reaction conditions, with a view to making the whole process more sustainable while ensuring its scalability. Unsubstituted phthalocyanines were synthesized to analyze the behavior of the different metal ions in terms of reactivity in the new reaction media, resulting in a general Cu > Co > Zn trend, while the nonpolar tetra-tert-butyl substitution was investigated to evaluate the synthesis of soluble derivatives in the new conditions. Furthermore, the potassium hydroxide (KOH)-aided statistical synthesis of the unsymmetrical 9(10), 16(17), 23(24)-tri-tert-butyl-2-iodophthalocyaninato zinc(II), starting from 4-tert-butylphthalonitrile and 4-iodophthalonitrile in a glycerol/anisole mixture, proceeded with a satisfactory 26% yield. Our results provide insights into the investigation of new reaction environments and the understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, with a view to further increasing the sustainability of the synthesis of metallomacrocycles with high added value while lowering their production cost.

[1]Benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene-Phthalocyanine Derivatives: A Subclass of Solution-Processable Electron-Rich Hole Transport Materials

The [1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (BTBT) planar system was used to functionalize the phthalocyanine ring aiming at synthesizing novel electron-rich π-conjugated macrocycles. The resulting ZnPc-BTBT and ZnPc-(BTBT)₄ derivatives are the first two examples of a phthalocyanine subclass having potential use as solution-processable p-type organic semiconductors. In particular, the combination of experimental characterizations and theoretical calculations suggests compatible energy level alignments with mixed halide hybrid perovskite-based devices. Furthermore, ZnPc-(BTBT)₄ features a high aggregation tendency, a useful tool to design compact molecular films. When tested as hole transport materials in perovskite solar cells under 100 mA cm^-2 standard AM 1.5G solar illumination, ZnPc-(BTBT)₄ gave power conversion efficiencies as high as 14.13 %, irrespective of the doping process generally required to achieve high photovoltaic performances. This work is a first step toward a new phthalocyanine core engineerization to obtain robust, yet more efficient and cost-effective materials for organic electronics and optoelectronics.

Understanding the influence of disorder on the exciton dynamics and energy transfer in Zn-phthalocyanine H-aggregates

The photophysics of 9(19),16(17),23(24)-tri-tert-butyl-2-[ethynyl-(4-carboxymethyl)phenyl]phthalocyaninatozinc(ii) and its H-aggregates is studied in different solvents by means of ultrafast non-linear optical spectroscopy and computational modeling. In non-coordinating solvents, both stationary and time-resolved spectroscopies highlight the formation of extended molecular aggregates, whose dimension and spectral properties depends on the concentration. In all the explored experimental conditions, time-resolved transient absorption experiments show multi exponential decay of the signals. Additional insights into the excited state relaxation mechanisms of the system is obtained with 2D electronic spectroscopy, which is employed to compare the deactivation channels in the absence or presence of aggregates. In ethanol and diethylether, where only monomers are present, an ultrafast relaxation process among the two non-degenerate Q-states of the molecule is evidenced by the appearance of a cross peak in the 2D-maps. In chloroform or CCl4, where disordered H-aggregates are formed, an energy transfer channel among aggregates with different composition and size is observed, leading to the non-radiative decay towards the lower energy dark state of the aggregates. Efficient coupling between less and more aggregated species is highlighted in two-dimensional electronic spectra by the appearance of a cross peak. The kinetics and intensity of the latter depend on the concentration of the solution. Finally, the linear spectroscopic properties of the aggregate are reproduced using a simplified structural model of an extended aggregate, based on Frenkel Hamiltonian Calculations and on an estimate of the electronic couplings between each dimer composing the aggregate computed at DFT level.

Modifications of an unsymmetrical phthalocyanine: Towards stable blue dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells

A new copper phthalocyanine, namely 9(10),16(17),23(24)-tri-tert-butyl-2-[acetynyl-(4-carboxy)phenyl]phthalocyaninatocopper and its related free base have been synthesized as potential stable blue dyes for dye sensitized solar cells. The molecule structure consists on an unsymmetrically-substituted macrocycle bearing three tert-butyl groups and one phenylethynyl moiety as peripheral substituents and it is analogue to that of a previously published zinc derivative. Chemical and optical characterizations, as well as theoretical calculations of the frontier orbitals of both molecules are discussed. To evaluate the effect of the central metal on the photovoltaic behavior of this dye, the novel molecules have been both tested and confronted with the zinc derivative. This last one has shown efficiency values significantly higher than those previously published with a 2.10% maximum efficiency, while the other two dyes yielded 1.66% and 1.38% maximum efficiency respectively.

Metal–organic green dye: chemical and physical insight into a modified Zn-benzoporphyrin for dye-sensitized solar cells

A novel green benzoporphyrin has been synthesized, characterized, studied by theoretical methods and tested in DSSC devices. Ab initio simulations predict the actual charge displacement during S₀ → S₁ excitation.

Facile synthesis of pegylated zinc(II) phthalocyanines via transesterification and their in vitro photodynamic activities

Treatment of 4,5-bis[4-(methoxycarbonyl)phenoxy]phthalonitrile and 4,5-bis[3,5-bis(methoxycarbonyl)phenoxy]phthalonitrile with an excess of 1,3-diiminoisoindoline in the presence of Zn(OAc)(2)·2H(2)O and 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene in triethylene glycol monomethyl ether or polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether (with an average molecular weight of 550) led to "3 + 1" mixed cyclisation and transesterification in one pot, affording the corresponding di-β-substituted zinc(II) phthalocyanines in 7-23% yield. As shown by absorption spectroscopy, these compounds were essentially non-aggregated in N,N-dimethylformamide and could generate singlet oxygen effectively. The singlet oxygen quantum yields (Φ(Δ) = 0.53-0.57) were comparable with that of the unsubstituted zinc(II) phthalocyanine (Φ(Δ) = 0.56). These compounds in Cremophor EL emulsions also exhibited photocytotoxicity against HT29 human colorectal adenocarcinoma and HepG2 human hepatocarcinoma cells with IC(50) values in the range of 0.25-3.72 μM. The analogue with four triethylene glycol chains was the most potent photosensitiser and localised preferentially in the mitochondria of HT29 cells. The bis(polyethylene glycol)-counterpart could form surfactant-free nanoparticles both in water and in the culture medium. The hydrodynamic radii, as determined by dynamic laser light scattering, ranged from 6.3 to 79.8 nm depending on the preparation methods and conditions. The photocytotoxicity of these nanoparticles (IC(50) = 0.43-0.56 μM) was comparable with that of the Cremophor EL-formulated system (IC(50) = 0.34 μM).