, 1059 (1988). Treatment of 4-neopentoxyphthalonitrile with hydrogen sulfide gas yielded 1-irnino-6-neopentoxy-3-thioisoindoline and 1-irnino-5-neopentoxy-3-thioisoindoline, which on alkylation with iodomethane gave 1 -imino-3-methylthio-6-neopentoxyisoindolenine and 1-imino-3-methylthio-5-neopentoxyisoindolenine. The methylthioisoindolenines readily condensed at room temperature to a mixture of tetrasubstituted phthalocyanines and a series of linear open-chained purple compounds characteristic of isoindigos, while condensation at -20°C in the presence of zinc acetate gave, in at least one experiment, 2,9,16,23-tetraneopentoxyphthalocyanine as a pure isomer. The low temperature formation of phthalocyanines is remarkable and the syntheses described herein provide guidelines for the synthesis of pure isomers of 2,9,16,23-tetrasubstituted phthalocyanines. The purple and red compounds are shown to have isoindigo structures rather than a ring-opened phthalocyanine structure as previously reported.SHAFRIRA GREENBERG, A. B. P. LEVER et CLIFFORD C. LEZNOFF. Can. J. Chem. 66, 1059 (1988). La rkaction du nkopentoxy-4 phtalonitrile et du sulfure d'hydrogbne gazeux conduit i I'imino-1 ntopentoxy-6 thio-3 isoindoline et a I'imino-1 nkopentoxy-5 thio-3 isoindoline qui, par alkylation avec I'iodomkJhane, conduisent B I'imino-1 mkthylthio-3 nkopentoxy-6 isoindoline et a I'imino-1 mkthylthio-3 nkopentoxy-5 isoindoline. A la temptrature ambiante, les mCthylthioisoindolines se condensent facilement pour donner un mklange de phtalocyanines tttrasubstitukes et une strie de composts linkaires pourpres caractkristiques des isoindigos; par ailleurs, une condensation B -20°C, en prtsence d'acttate de zinc, a conduit-au moins dans une experience-i la tttrankopentoxy-2,9,16,23 phtalocyanine sous la forme d'un isomere pur. La formation de phtalocyanines 2 basse tempkrature est remarquable et les synthbses dtcrites dans ce travail fournissent des indications sur les mkthodes de synthese des isombres purs des phtalocyanines substitutes en 2,9,16,23. On a dtmontrt que les composts pourpre et rouge possedent des structures relikes B celle de I'isoindigo plut6t que des structures relikes a celle de la phtalocyanine qui avaient kt6 suggkrkes antkrieurement.[Traduit par la revue]Tetrasubstituted phthalocyanines having one substituent on each of the four benzo rings of phthalocyanine have been known for some time (1) but have received more attention recently due to their importance in electrocatalytic studies (2, 3). Most tetrasubstituted phthalocyanines are prepared by self-condensation of a suitable 3 or 4-substituted phthalonitrile or derivative (4, 5). For example, the isoindoline of 4-neopentoxyphthalonitrile will, upon condensation, give not only 2,9,16,23-tetraneopentoxyphthalocyanine (1) but also the 2,10,16,24-, 2,9,17,24-, and 2,9,16,24-tetraneopentoxyphthalocyanine isomers (6, 7). Indeed, we have shown that the 2,9,16,23-tetraneopentoxy hthalocyanine zinc(11) (2) derivative exhibited P peaks in its H nmr spectrum, indicating the presenc...