Lifetime and quenching rate constants for a flourescent excited state of tetramethylethylene (2,3-dimethyl-2-butene)

The collisionless lifetime of a flourescent excited state of tetramethylethylene (TME) vapor when excited at 235 nm is 20.8±0.9 ns and the self-quenching rate constant is (2.97±0.01) × 10⁻¹⁰ cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹. The rate constants for quenching of TME vapor by O₂, benzene. CCl₄, Xe, N₂ and CH₄ are also repeated. In the vapor phase, the lifetime strongly depends on the excitation energy. The lifetime of liquid TME is 10±2 ns at 25±2°C.