Highlights-The sensor response of fluorinated metal phthalocyanines toward NH 3 was performed.-The sensor response was studied using surface plasmon resonance technique.-The effect of central metal in MPcF 16 molecule to the sensor response was verified.-The structure of analyte/phthalocyanine complex was analysed using DFT calculations.3 A comparative study of the sensor response toward gaseous ammonia of hexadecafluorinated 3d-metal phthalocyanine (MPcF 16 , M=Cu(II), Co(II), Zn(II), Ni(II)) thin films was performed using complementary experimental (viz., surface plasmon resonance, SPR, and IR absorption spectroscopy) along with theoretical (density functional theory calculations, DFT) techniques. SPR measurements revealed changes of both thickness and optical parameters (refraction indices and extinction coefficients) of the MPcF 16 films caused by adsorption of NH 3 . The MPcF 16 species studied exhibited the following order of sensor response: ZnPcF 16 > CoPcF 16 CuPcF 16 > NiPcF 16 . A good correlation was found between the DFT calculated (B3LYP/6-311++G(2df,p)) binding energies, experimentally measured shift of the selected IR bands, and the optical sensor response. Apart from this, we performed a detailed assignment of all intense bands in the vibrational spectra (IR and Raman) of fluorinated 3d-metal phthalocyanines studied.