Preparation of Copper Phthalocyanine Crystals Using Solvothermal Synthesis

A novel solvothermal synthesis method for the direct growth of β-form crystals of copper phthalocyanine(CuPc) is presented in this article. With quinoline as solvent, crystals were grown after cooling the reaction mixture of 1,3-diiminoisoindoline and copper oxide, heated for 9 h at 270°C, to room temperature in an autoclave. These high quality crystals were suitable for characterization measurements. The single-crystal diffraction data show a monoclinic system unit cell: a=1.4668(3) nm, b=0.48109(10) nm, c=1.9515(7) nm, α=90°, β=121.04(2)°, γ=90°, where the corresponding cell volume is 1.17991 nm3. Needle-like single crystals of CuPc up to 10.5 mm in length were obtained. The influences of different temperatures, reaction time and solvent volume on the crystal yields were also discussed. Optimum reaction conditions were 10 mL of quinoline, at 270°C for 8 h.