The flourescence lifetime of the benzyl radical

Time resolved fluorescence of the benzyl, monomethylbenzyl and dimethylbenzyl radicals strapped in rigid solvents at low temperatures has been observed using the second harmonic of the ruby laser at the exciting source. The fluorescence lifetimes of these radicals are very long (10^?7–10^?6 sec), which are influenced considerably by the methyl substituents. The long fluorescence lifetimes of the benzyl radical and its methyl derivatives are interpreted in terms of the forbidden character of the first doublet-doublet electronic transition.