Phthalocyanine- and porphyrin-based GUMBOS for rapid and sensitive detection of organic vapors

Metal complexes of porphyrins and phthalocyanines are attractive materials for designing recognition elements for chemical sensors, and hence they have been the focus of intense research. An interesting feature of these materials is that they can be functionalized at multiple positions to create sensors having slightly different selectivities. Considering the importance of these materials, herein, we report the synthesis and vapor-sensing characteristics of novel porphyrin- and phthalocyanine-based GUMBOS. More specifically, sodium counterions of copper (II) meso-tetra (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin (CuTCPP) and copper phthalocyanine-3,4ʹ,4″,4‴-tetrasulfonic acid (CuPcS4) were replaced by trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium cations to respectively produce the GUMBOS compounds, [P66614]4[CuTCPP] and [P66614]4[CuPcS4]. The resulting compounds were found to be solids with considerably lower melting points. These GUMBOS were then coated on the surface of a quartz crystal resonator, and the vapor sensing characteristics were evaluated by exposing the sensors to 11 different organic vapors. These materials exhibited excellent sensing characteristics; moreover, the two sensors exhibited cross-reactive response patterns, making these compounds very promising candidates for array-based vapor-sensing applications.