Visible photostability of some ruthenium and platinum phthalocyanines in water and in the presence of organic substrates

Water-soluble, metal-tetrasubstituted phthalocyanines (-SO(3)H, MPcS and -COOH, MPcC) of platinum and ruthenium were synthesized and their photostability to visible light irradiation was determined. For the ruthenium phthalocyanines, the characteristic visible Q band of the phthalocyanines was almost totally suppressed after five days of irradiation. The platinum derivatives were instead more resistant to photodegradation, and the Q band did not decrease by more than 25%. The addition of carbonyl compounds to the phthalocyanine solution in water (at concentrations at least 1400-fold those of the phthalocyanines) dramatically accelerated the photobleaching of these phthalocyanine complexes. PtPcS turned from blue to green and to colorless with one day of visible-light irradiation in the presence of acetone. This effect decreased with the increase in molecular weight of the ketones (from acetone to 2-pentanone). The addition of alcohols (i.e. 1-butanol) or other organics (i.e. phenylacetic acid) did not affect the photostability of these metal-tetrasubstituted phthalocyanines. Dioxygen also had an important role, as when the solutions of phthalocyanines were carefully deaerated before irradiation, the visible spectra were preserved. The platinum phthalocyanines, as with the palladium analogs, sensitize the photoproduction of (1)O(2), as shown by the formation of endoperoxide and its rearranged products in the presence of furfuryl alcohol (a singlet oxygen trapping agent).