Photophysical, photochemical and electrochemical properties of water soluble silicon, titanium and zinc phthalocyanines

The photophysical, and photochemical properties of titanium, silicon and zinc octacarboxy phthalocyanine (OTiOCPc, (OH)2SiOCPc and ZnOCPc) and their tetrasulfonated counterparts (OTiTSPc, (OH)2SiTSPc and ZnTSPc) in phosphate-buffer solution (PBS), pH 10 were studied. The tetrasulfonated derivatives were also studied in the presence of a surfactant, cremophore EL (CEL) due to their high aggregation tendency in aqueous solutions. Triplet quantum yields ranged from 0.20 to 0.48 for MOCPcs and 0.32–0.65 for MTSPcs in the presence of CEL and in pH 10. High triplet lifetimes were observed for ZnTSPc (270 μs, in the presence of CEL) or ZnOCPc (130 μs) compared to values ranging from 50 to 70 μs for the rest of the complexes.