The preparation of some peripherally substituted (2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24) and non-peripherally substituted (1,4,8,11,15,18,22,25) octaalkyl lead(II) phthalocyanines with different alkyl chain lengths (6, 7, 8 or 9 carbons) is described and a comparison of some of their properties reported. X-ray structure analyses of the isomeric peripheral and non-peripheral octakis(octyl)phthalocyaninato lead(II) compounds reveal a greater degree of distortion of the ligand ring system from planarity in the former derivative. The series of peripherally substituted octaalkyl lead(II) phthalocyanines exhibit columnar liquid crystal behavior whereas the non-peripherally substituted isomers do not. The lability of the lead ion was investigated using ¹ H NMR spectrometry under a specific set of conditions (8.8 × 10^-4 M solutions of the phthalocyanine in d₈-toluene containing d₄-acetic acid 2.06 × 10^-5 M). All the compounds underwent acid catalyzed demetalation at rates dependent upon the location of the substituents and, more surprisingly, the chain length of the alkyl groups. Under these conditions the lead ion within each of the peripherally substituted octaalkyl lead phthalocyanines was more labile than that in the non-peripherally substituted isomer.