2,3,9,10,16,17,24,25-Octakis(octyloxycarbonyl)phthalocyanines. Synthesis, spectroscopic, and electrochemical characteristics

A series of three novel 2,3,9,10,16,17,24,25-octakis(octyloxycarbonyl) phthalocyanine compounds M[Pc(COOC₈H₁₇)8] (M = 2H, Cu, Zn) (1-3) have been synthesized via the cyclic tetramerization of 4,5-di(octyloxycarbonyl)phthalonitrile, which was obtained by a newly developed procedure with o-xylene as starting material, promoted with organic base 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) in the absence and presence of metal salt like M(acac)₂·H₂O (M = Cu, Zn) in n-octanol at 120 °C. In addition to elemental analysis, these novel octakis(octyloxycarbonyl)-substituted phthalocyanine compounds have been characterized by a series of spectroscopic methods. The electrochemistry of these compounds was also studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) methods. A significant shift to the positive direction for both the first oxidation and the first reduction of compound 1, relative to H₂Pc, reveals the electron-withdrawing nature of octyloxycarbonyl groups attached to the peripheral positions of phthalocyanine. The effect of peripheral octyloxycarbonyl substitution on the electrochemistry of the series of phthalocyanines 1-3 has been reasonably explained by theoretical calculation results using the density functional theory (DFT) method.