Dissociation of imino proton(s) of a highly water-soluble metal-free phthalocyanine and determination of its pKa value in water

Abstract

Dissociation of imino proton(s) in the cavity of the macrocycle of a highly water-soluble, metal-free phthalocyanine ( H 2( H 4 tsppc ); where H 4 tsppc denotes tetrakis{(2′,6′-dimethyl-4′-sulfonic acid)phenoxy}phthalocyaninate) in ethanolic and aqueous solutions has spectrophotometrically been investigated. The spectral changes associated with reaction with NaOH have been found to involve one-proton transfer process in aqueous media while two-protons process in ethanolic media. The acid-dissociation constant of the first imino proton in water (in the presence of Triton X-100) has been determined to be 12.5 ± 0.2 (as pKa) at 25 °C. The doubly deprotonated species in EtOH has been easily converted to its corresponding cobalt(II) derivative by thermal reaction with anhydrous CoCl 2.