The synthesis of an octasubstituted monohydroxylated phthalocyanine designed to investigate the effect of the presence of active moietiesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. CCDC 968416 (3). For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c5nj00229j

A monohydroxylated octasubstituted phthalocyanine, aimed at being used as a synthon for further conjugation, has been designed to offer rigorous comparison conditions to study the effect of the presence of an active moiety, compared to its non-functionalized symmetric analogs. After the validation of the concept using computational methods, the designed phthalocyanine was prepared and exhibited the expected suitable electronic absorption properties. Biotin conjugation was performed. Filling a lack: monofunctionalized octasubstitution, the missing substitution pattern of phthalocyanines.