Alkylamine sensing using Langmuir-Blodgett films of n-alkyl-N-phenylamide-substituted zinc porphyrins

Two porphyrin Compounds, zinc(II) 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(3,5,5-trimethyl-N-phenylhexanamide)porphyrin and zinc(II) 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(2,2-dimethyl-N-phenylpropanamide)porphyrin, have been investigated as possible candidates for the detection of alkylamines. UV-visible spectroscopy has shown that their solution absorption spectra are significantly modified upon interaction with a range of organic analytes, including acetic acid, butanone, ethylacetate, hexanethiol, octanal, octanol, alkylamines, and trimethylphosphite. Large spectral changes are observed for the family of alkylamines as a result of the specific affinity between zinc and the amine moiety. Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of the porphyrins have been fabricated in order to assess their solid-state sensing capability toward amines. The surface pressure-area (Pi-A) isotherms reveal a clear three-phase Langmuir film behavior and show that these monolayer films may be compressed to a relatively high surface pressure (similar to 40-50 mN m(-1)). The isotherm data alongside molecular modeling suggest a relatively flat orientation of the porphyrin rings of both compounds: that is, a mutually parallel alignment of the plane of the porphyrin ring and that of the water surface. LB films deposited at 15 mN m(-1) have been exposed to alkylamine vapor (carried by N-2). A red shift and increase in intensity of the Soret band absorbance is observed which can be reversed by flowing pure N-2 over the gently heated sample (60 degrees C) after exposure. Primary amines were expected to invoke the greatest sensing response due to (i) their larger association constants with these porphyrins compared to secondary and tertiary amines and (ii) the ease of diffusion of amines which is expected to follow the order primary > secondary > tertiary due to the steric hindrance arising from the bulky secondary and tertiary amines. However, the magnitude of the absorbance change is largest for exposure to the secondary amines, dipropylamine and dibutylamine, for both porphyrins, compared to primary and tertiary amines. This trend follows that observed when the amines were added to solutions of the porphyrins. The rate of response of the porphyrin LB films falls as the molecular weight of the diffusing alkylamine increases. Furthermore, a greater rate of response is observed for the phenythexanamide porphyrin compared to the phenylpropanamide porphyrin due to its lower molecular density within the LB film and therefore more porous structure.