A family of copper and zinc phthalocyanine-based amphiphililes possessing r
acemic and optically active diol units, (rac)-ZnPc(OH)(16), (rac)-CuPc(OH)(
16), and (S)-CuPc(OH)(16), have been synthesized. The self-assembling prope
rties of these amphiphiles in aqueous solution have been studied by W-vis,
Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopie
s, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, and transmission electron microscopy (
TEM). Only the copper complexes produced fibrous assemblies from aqueous so
lutions through two noncovalent bondings: pi-pi interaction among phthalocy
anine rings and hydrogen bonds among diol units. The formation of fibrous a
ssemblies strongly depends on the central metal of the phthalocyanine compl
ex. The optically active (S)-CuPc(OH)(16) is stacked and arranged in a left
-handed helix. The chirality of diol units in (S)-CuPc(OK)(16) also affects
the intercolumnar lattice of phthalocyanine stacks.