A novel water-soluble and polymerizable photosensitizer, zinc tetra(N-carbonylacrylic)aminophthalocyanine (Zn-MPc), was synthesized by the ornament of zinc tetraaminophthalocyanine (Zn-APc) with maleic anhydride and characterized by H-1 NMR, FT-IR, and MALDI-TOF mass spectra. The photoactivity of Zn-MPc was determined by tracking the degradation of 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF). The results indicated that Zn-MPc is an efficient photosensitizer and has a high photostability. The apparent rate constant, k(a), of DPBF photodegradation increased with the increase of the Zn-MPc concentration or light intensity, but declined with the increase of the initial concentration of DPBF. Furthermore, the kinetics equation was deduced as Rd = 1.12 x 10(-5) [DPBF](0.51) [Zn-MPc]E-0.54(1.35). The results in this work provide a basis for the further development of more desirable phtotosensitizers and their applications in photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.