The preparation of unsymmetrical monofunctionalised zinc phthalocyanines, using a palladium catalysed coupling reaction between zinc(II) tri(t-butyl)-4-iodophthalocyanine and a series of terminally substituted acetylenic derivatives, diethylvinyl phosphonate, methylacrylate (Heck Reactions), vinyltin derivatives (Stille reaction) and aryl boronated acids (Suzuki reaction), is described. (C) 1997, Elsevier Science Ltd.