Immobilization of Zinc Porphyrin Complexes on Pyridine-Functionalized Glass Surfaces

To immobilize sublimable and fluorescent dye mols. on transparent surfaces for the detection of far field mol. interference expts., the authors study the potential of pyridine-functionalized glass substrates as coordination sites for the zinc complex of tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTPP). Borosilicate glass is functionalized with 4-(6-(ethoxydimethylsilyl)hexyloxy)pyridine to cover the glass surface with pyridine subunits. ZnTPP mols. are deposited by sublimation through mech. masks of various sizes in a high-vacuum chamber. The resulting micropatterns are analyzed using epifluorescence microscopy which also allows one to define a measure for the quality of mol. immobilization. The authors observe a reduced mobility and an increased efficiency for the trapping of ZnTPP on pyridine-functionalized surfaces. [on SciFinder(R)]