Interfacial adsorption state of protonated lipophilic porphyrins in a liquid-liquid system by using reflection spectrometry.

Analysis by reflection spectrometry was performed to clarify the interfacial adsorption of protonated lipophilic tetraphenylporphyrin derivatives in a dodecane-aqueous sulfuric acid system, and to confirm the utility of partial reflection spectroscopy. Interfacial adsorption was not observed for porphyrins substituted at the 2,6 positions of meso-phenyl groups, suggesting that the substituents prevent porphyrins from forming aggregates by steric hindrance. Polymorphous J-aggregates of acid dications were produced by tetra-p-tolylporphyrin with a saturated interfacial molecular density of 1.0 x 10(-10) mol cm(-2), which could yield 48 degrees as a mean tilting angle of the pyrrole ring plane from the interface normal. Partial-reflection spectrometry can provide sensitive detection and molecular orientation analysis of interfacial adsorbates.