Phthalocyanine
Molecule of the Month - March 1996
Discovery and History
The word phthalocyanine - from the Greek for naphtha (rock oil) and cyanine (blue) was first used
by Linstead in 1933 to describe a new class of
organic compounds. Phthalocyanine itself was probably discovered by accident in 1907, as a by-product
during the synthesis of o-cyanobenzamide, but it was not until almost 20 years later that a patent
was filed describing a manufacturing process. The extensive chemical studies by Linstead et al were
followed by structural studies by J Monteath Robertson at the Royal Institution and Glasgow - the
first crystal structures of relatively large organic molecules. Studies of semiconductivity and gas adsorption effects followed
soon after in Nottingham.
| Lead Phthalocyanine
|
|---|
|
Properties and Uses
Phthalocyanine has been widely exploited in industry and academia, in a variety of applications ranging from
conventional dye stuffs to catalysis, coatings for read/write CD-ROM's and as an anti-cancer agent. The majority
of applications use the metal-substituted form of the molecule - a process which has been applied to every
group in the periodic table - for example the Royal Mint use the popular copper-substituted variety as a blue dye
in 5 pound notes.
Rewriteable Optical Media
This is an increasingly important topic in the information storage industry - read/write cd-rom technology at low cost has obvious implications for the computer, education and communications
industries.
Chemical Sensors
Many types of chemical sensor based on phthalocyanines have been proposed - including thin film resistive devices, FET sensors and Langmuir-Blodgett films.
Oncology
The fluoraluminium phthalocyanine has been extensively studied for potential use as a target molecule in anti-cancer treatment.
Alan Wilson February 1996.
Back to Molecule of the Month page. [DOI:10.6084/m9.figshare.5469676]