Spectroscopic study of protoporphyrin IX zinc(II) encapsulated in sol-gel glass

Previous studies indicated that the organization of native porphyrins and their intentionally designated derivatives in solid substrates is of current interest because of the biological and practical importance of these compounds. In this paper, we report herein for the first time the incorporation of a functionalized diacid, protoporphyrin IX Zn(II) (Zn-pp-IX), successfully in a silica based transparent organic-inorganic hybrid material by choosing proper alkoxy silane containing amino-group via the sol-gel method. The entrapped guest was diagnosed using UV-vis sectrophotometry, emission spectroscopy, and infrared spectrometry; the properties of the encapsulated porphyrin were compared to those of the compound in solution. The results indicate that Zn-pp-IX is well distributed and homogeneously in the glass.