Purification and characterization of phthalocyanines

The technical details of a simple train sublimation (carrier gas) system for purification of organic materials are given and the refining procedure is described. A study of the effects of purification on metal free phthalocyanine (H₂Pc), magnesium phthalocyanine (MgPc), copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), vanadyl phthalocyanine (VOPc), zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) and lead phthalocyanine (PbPc) was carried out by means of optical absorption, X-ray diffraction, electron paramagnetic resonance, sublimation behaviour and photovoltaic data. It was found that train sublimation improves the quality of the pigments considerably. Spectroscopic results indicate the presence of a second phase in the purified MgPc.