Comparation of multiple terminal functional groups dendrimer silicon(IV) phthalocyanines: Photoinduced electron/energy transfer and electrochemical properties

•Synthesis aryl benzyl ether dendrimer phthalocyanines with nitro/cyano/ether terminal groups.•Comparation the light-harvesting ability and energy transfer efficacy of dendrimer phthalocyanines.•Electrochemical properties of dendrimer phthalocyanines evidence photophysical properties.

Three novel aryl benzyl ether dendrimer silicon(IV) phthalocyanines with nitro/cyano/ether terminal functional groups were synthesized. The structures of these compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, 1H NMR, thermogravimetric analysis and MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopic data. Photophysical properties, photoinduced intermolecular electron transfer constants, and photoinduced intramolecular energy transfer efficacies of three dendrimer silicon(IV) phthalocyanines were compared by UV/vis and fluorescence spectroscopic methods. The electrochemical behaviors of these dendrimer silicon(IV) phthalocyanines were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) measurements. Dendrimer silicon(IV) phthalocyanine with nitro groups exhibited the highest light harvesting ability, fluorescence quantum yields, and photoinduced intramolecular energy transfer efficacy. Our study suggests that this novel dendrimer silicon(IV) phthalocyanine is an effective energy transmission complex with high efficiency, and could be used as a potential light-harvesting system.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide