Electrochemistry of aluminum phthalocyanine: solvent and anion effects on UV-visible spectra and reduction mechanisms.

The electrochemistry and UV-vis spectral properties of neutral and electroreduced Al(III) phthalocyanine, (Pc)AlCl, were characterized in four different nonaqueous solvents (THF, DMSO, DMF, and pyridine) containing tetra-n-butylammonium perchlorate, as well as in THF containing 0.4 M TBAP and the more strongly coordinating Cl-, F-, OH-, or CN- anions added to solution in the form of a tetra-n-butylammonium salt. The initial phthalocyanine added to solution is represented as (Pc)AlCl, but the actual electroactive form of the compound varied as a function of both the solvent and type or number of bound anionic axial ligands. An uncharged (Pc)AlCl(THF) or (Pc)Al(CN)(THF) complex is present in THF solutions containing 0.4 M TBAP and excess Cl- or CN-, while transient mu-oxo dimers are spectroscopically observed upon addition of OH- or F- to (Pc)AlCl(THF) in THF followed by the ultimate formation of stable six-coordinate anionic species represented as [(Pc)Al(OH)2]- or [(Pc)AlF2]-. Each phthalocyanine undergoes three reversible one-electron additions at the conjugated Pc macrocycle within the negative potential limit of the solvent, and the UV-vis spectral changes obtained during the first two reductions were recorded in a thin-layer cell to evaluate the prevailing electron-transfer mechanisms.