Metal phthalocyanines (PCs) and their derivatives (PCDs) have been considered for applications in color filters, photovoltaic cells, and photodynamic therapy, owing to their unique optical properties, high chemical and thermal stabilities, and good electron mobility. In addition, since the optical and electronic properties of metal PCDs are improved considerably by reducing their dimensions to the nanoscale, nanocrystals (NCs) of metal PCDs have received much attention. We have previously demonstrated the direct synthesis of CuPCs and ZnPCs in nanomicelles via the UV irradiation of various precursors. In the present study, metal PCDs having various p-conjugated sub-stituents were synthesized using a one-pot UV-assisted process. The resulting metal PCD NCs were found to form stable dispersions in an aqueous PEG solution and these dispersions exhibited significant visible light absorption from 500 to 800nm and high transparency at wavelengths in the non-absorption region.