Investigation of self-aggregation properties of amino functionalized zinc chlorins

Abstract

Zinc chlorin derivatives consisting of primary, secondary and tertiary amine unit were prepared and their aggregation properties have been studied both in solution and in solid state in order to investigate the influence of the amine moiety on the formation of self-assembled nanostructures. The supramolecular organization ability of these derivatives have been investigated on the solid substrate, namely, highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) by using AFM (atomic force microscopy) and STM (scanning tunneling microscopy) spectroscopy. The supramolecular organization of zinc chlorin derivatives in solution has been further supported by UV–vis spectroscopy. Zinc chlorins bearing primary, secondary amine exhibit well-ordered J-type aggregation in solution and well-defined self-organization on HOPG. On the other hand, the self-organization of tertiary amine substituted zinc chlorin both in solution and in solid state was less pronounced.