Photophysical properties of newly synthesized fluorinated zinc phthalocyanines in the presence of CdTe quantum dots and the accompanying energy transfer processes

The photophysical properties of two newly synthesized phthalocyanines (Pcs) were studied in the presence and the absence of 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) capped quantum dots (QDs). Energy transfer processes resulting from the combination of QDs and the Pcs: 4-(tetrakis-5-(trifluoromethyl)-2-mercaptopyridinephthalocyaninato)zinc(II) (TtfmMPyZnPc, 3) and 4-(tetrakis-5-(trifluoromethyl)-2-pyridyloxyphthalocyaninato) zinc(II) (TtfmPyZnPc, 4) were also studied. The photophysical properties of the Pcs in the presence of QDs were enhanced and Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) was observed with the phthalocyanines used. The efficiency of FRET between the QDs and TtfmMPyZnPc and TtfmPyZnPc was found to be 0.31% and 0.45% in DMSO and 0.24% and 0.32% in pyridine, respectively. The triplet state quantum yields for TtfmMPyZnPc and TtfmPyZnPc were found to be 0.86 and 0.74 in DMSO and 0.83 and 0.76 in pyridine. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.