Effects of peripheral and axial substitutions on electronic transitions of tin naphthalocyanines

Tin naphthalocyanine molecules display strong absorption in the infrared region (IR), making them ideal as components of organic photodiodes and solar cells. We use density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) at the B3LYP level to study the influence of axial and peripheral ligands on the absorption wavelength of tin naphthalocyanines. We find that TD-DFT is successful at reproducing the experimental absorption spectra of free base naphthalocyanine and tin naphthalocyanine molecules and can be used as a reliable tool to predict absorption spectra of substituted naphthalocyanines. Functional groups attached axially to tin (-F, -Cl, -Br, -I) and peripherally to the inner ring (-F, -Cl, -Br, -Ph, -OH, -COCH(3), -O(CH(2))(3)CH(3)) of the tin naphthalocyanine molecule tune the excitation wavelength in the near-infrared region between 770 and 940 nm. While substituents to the outer naphthalocyanine ring (-Cl, -Br) affect the intensity of the absorption peaks in the NIR region, they do not influence their absorption wavelength. Asymmetric substitution of naphthalocyanine pendant arms can be employed to decrease intensity of the absorption peaks in the visible region with respect to the intensity of the peaks in the NIR.