Novel near-IR absorbing phenyl-substituted phthalo- and naphthalocyanine complexes of lanthanide(III): synthesis and spectral and electrochemical properties.

A series of novel phenyl-substituted planar and sandwich-type complexes of Eu, Er and Lu with phthalo and naphthalocyanine ligands was obtained. A successful synthesis of dinaphthalocyanines from the ligand is described. A selective synthetic approach to the phenyl-substituted triphthalocyanine complexes from the ligand and acetylacetonate salts of lanthanides was developed. Correlations between the ionic radii of the central metal and absorption maxima were obtained for sandwich-type complexes. It was found that intervalence (IV) bands for dinaphthalocyanine complexes were red-shifted about 200 nm in comparison with corresponding diphthalocyanines, reaching 1797 nm for the Eu complex. The electrochemical behaviour of planar and sandwich-type Lu complexes was investigated. For the first time a spectroelectrochemical study of multistep reduction and oxidation processes for a triple-decker complex was carried out using the example of the triphthalocyanine of Lu. The structures of the compounds obtained were determined by (1)H NMR and high resolution MALDI TOF/TOF. The first single-crystal structure for an aryl-substituted double-decker complex was described using the example of the diphthalocyanine of Lu, showing the presence of intramolecular π-π interactions between phenyl groups.