Electronic structure and bonding in metal phthalocyanines (Metal=Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mg) is investigated in detail using a density functional method. The metal atoms are strongly bound to the phthalocyanine ring in each case, by as much as 10 eV. The calculated orbital energy levels and relative total energies of these D4h structures indicate that Fe and Co phthalocyanines have 3A2g and 2Eg ground states, respectively, but that these states are changed upon interaction with strong-field axial ligands. The valence electronic structures of Fe and Co phthalocyanines differ significantly from those of the others. The HOMOs in Fe, Co, and Cu phthalocyanine are metal 3d-like, whereas in Ni and Zn phthalocyanines, the HOMO is localized on the phthalocyanine ring. The first ionization removes an electron from the phthalocyanine a1u orbital in all cases, with very little sensitivity of the ionization energy to the identity of the metal. Whereas the first reduction in Fe and Co phthalocyanine occurs at the metal, it is the phthalocyanine that is reduced upon addition of an electron to the other systems. Fe, Ni, and Cu phthalocyanines have smaller HOMO–LUMO separations than do Zn and Co phthalocyanine. There is very little variation in atomic charges within the phthalocyanine from one metal to the next. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.