A near-IR absorbing phthalocyanine containing alkylthio and alyklamino substituents along the periphery was determined to have optical properties that vary depending on surrounding solvent environment. Solvatochromic behavior of this novel chromophore has been characterized through UV-Vis absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy. Conformational analysis using the B3LYP/6-31G* model indicates the lowest energy conformer with hydrogen bond like interactions between the sulfur lone pair and the hydrogen on the alkylamino substituent. TD-DFT analysis of the solvatochromic phthalocyanine and its parent molecule confirms the derivative exhibits tunable optical properties based on various solvent parameters.

Chapter 1 reviews the energy crisis and the potential biological implications of near-IR absorbing phthalocyanines. In addition, a brief introduction of TD-DFT is given to further describe the computational analysis utilized herein. Chapter 2 describes the synthesis, spectroscopic studies, and computational analysis of a near-IR absorbing solvatochromic phthalocyanine derivative. Chapter 3 provides a summary of the work described in this thesis and provides future directions based on the completed research.