Preparation of amphiphilic glycerol-substituted zinc phthalocyanines using copper-free Sonogashira cross-coupling in aqueous medium

Palladium-catalyzed copper-free Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions were performed on a protected and unprotected monoiodotriglycerol substituted Zn(II) phthalocyanine with various alkynes in organic and aqueous medium. From the silyl protected alkyne derivative, a protected homo coupled dimeric product was also prepared using Glaser coupling. All products were purified by reverse phase HPLC and the assigned structures were confirmed by mass and UV–vis spectroscopy.