Kinetics of fast reactions of triplet states and radicals under photolysis of 4,4′-dimethylbenzophenone in the presence of 4-halophenols in micellar solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate in magnetic field

Quenching kinetics of the 4,4′-dimethylbenzophenone triplet state with para-substituted phenol derivatives RC₆H₄OH (R = H, F, Cl, Br, I) was studied by nanosecond laser photolysis in aqueous micellar solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate. The kinetic data were processed in the framework of a model with the Poisson distribution of phenols between micelles. The partition constants of RC₆H₄OH between the aqueous and micellar phases and the rate constants of their escape from a micelle and quenching of the 4,4′-dimethylbenzophenone triplet state with phenols in micelles were obtained. The quenching proceeds with high rate constants through hydrogen atom transfer to form the ketyl and phenoxyl radicals (no radicals are formed in the case of 4-iodophenol), which then recombine in a micelle or escape into the outer aqueous volume. The application of an external magnetic field retards radical pair recombination in a micelle and increases the fraction of radicals escaped into the aqueous phase. The quantum yield of radical pairs decreases 2.5-fold, and the rate of their recombination in micelles increases 2.5-fold on going from 4-chloro- to 4-bromophenol. This is caused by the acceleration of triplet radical pair recombination in the solvent cage. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1391–1396, June, 2005.     

Influence of the linking chain length on the recombination kinetics of covalently bonded triplet radical pairs and magnetic field effects

Nanosecond laser flash photolysis technique is used to study the formation and decay kinetics of covalently linked triplet radical pairs (RP) formed after photoinduced electron transfer in the series of 21 zinc porphyrin—chain—viologen (Pph—Sp_n—Vi²⁺) dyads, where the number of atoms (n) in the chain increases from 2 to 138. In poorly viscous polar solvents (acetone, CHCl₃—CH₃OH (1 : 1) mixture), the dependence of the rate constant of RP formation on n can be described by the equation k _e = k _e ⁰ n ^–a at k _e ⁰ = 2.95·10⁸ s^–1 anda = 0.8. In the zero magnetic field, the RP recombination rate constant (k _r(B = 0)) is significantly lower than k _e and ranges from 0.7·10⁶ to 8·10⁶ s^–1. The dependence of k _r(B = 0) on n is extreme. The dependence k _r(B = 0) reaches a maximum at n = 20. In the strong magnetic field (B = 0.21 T), the significant retardation of triplet RP recombination is observed. The chain length has an insignificant effect on k _r(B = 0.21 T), which ranges from 0.3·10⁶ to 0.9·10⁶ s^–1. The regularities found are discussed in terms of the interplay of molecular and spin dynamics.     

Evidence of the hydroxyl radical formation upon the photolysis of an iron-rich clay in aqueous solutions

With the use of laser flash photolysis, the formation of hydroxyl radicals upon the photolysis of an iron-rich clay (montmorillonite KSF) was demonstrated. The ^•OH radical was shown to be formed by the photolysis of the Fe(OH)_aq ²⁺ complex that escaped from the clay into the solution bulk.     

Kinetics and mechanism of reactions of photoexcited kynurenine with molecules of some natural compounds

Photochemical reactions involving kynurenines, viz., molecules present in the eye lens, can result in modifications of the lens proteins and cause a development of a cataract. The rate constants of the reactions of photoexcited kynurenine with several amino acids and antioxidants contained in the lens were measured. The most efficient quenchers of triplet kynurenine are amino acids tryptophan and tyrosine, as well as antioxidant ascorbate. In all cases, the quenching reaction proceeds by the electron transfer mechanism, except for the reaction with oxygen where transfer of the triplet energy to the oxygen molecule occurs. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 704–710, April, 2007.     

Synthesis of 4-arm methyl methacrylate star polymer by atom transfer radical polymerization

The synthesis of 4-arm methyl methacrylate star polymer had been achieved successfully by atom transfer radical polymerization using CuCl as catalyst, 2, 2′-bipyridyl as ligand and pentaerythritol tetrakis (2-bromoisobutyrate) as the initiator. The star polymer was characterized by ¹H-NMR and GPC, by which the precise 4-arm structure of the PMMA was confirmed. __________ Translated from Journal of Shaanxi Normal University (Natural Science Edition), 2008, 36(2) (in Chinese)     

Effect of nitroxide radicals on chemically induced dynamic electron polarization of spin-correlated radical pairs in aqueous micellar solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate

The multispin systems consisting of spin-correlated radical pairs (SCRPs) and stable nitroxide radicals, localized in micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), were studied by ESR and pulse laser photolysis techniques. In all the systems studied, the stable nitroxide radicals exert no effect on the shape of the ESR spectra of the SCRPs (in particular, on the shape of their antiphase structure) and on the decay kinetics of the ESR signal of the SCRPs. In the SDS micelles, the electron spin polarization transfer from the nonequilibrium electron spin states of the molecular triplets (SCRP precursors) is the most efficient mechanism of generation of the electron spin polarization in nitroxide radicals. The experimental data also show that the nitroxide radicals and SCRP radicals are most probably distributed uniformly in the micellar phase. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 7, pp. 1390–1401, July, 2008.     

Synthesis of amphiphilic ABC triblock copolymers by single electron transfer nitroxide radical coupling reaction in tetrahydrofuran

A series of ABC triblock copolymers, that is, polyisoprene‐block‐polystyrene‐block‐poly(ethylene oxide) (PI‐PS‐PEO), PI‐block‐poly(tert‐butyl acrylate)‐block‐PEO (PI‐PtBA‐PEO), and PI‐block‐poly(acrylic acide)‐block‐PEO (PI‐PAA‐PEO) were obtained by combination of anionic technique, atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), and single electron transfer nitroxide coupling (SETNRC) reaction. Anionic polymerization of isoprene followed by end capping with ethylene oxide yielded hydroxyl‐terminated PI. After esterification, PI with Br end group was used as a macroinitiator to initiate the polymerization of styrene and tBA by ATRP that was then trapped by 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl (TEMPO) group in PEO by SETNRC reaction rapidly with high efficiency in tetrahydrofuran at room temperature. The effect of reaction time and polymer chain length on SETNRC reaction was discussed in detail. In the presence of Cu⁰/tris[2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl]amine, SETNRC between PI‐PS‐Br and PEO‐TEMPO was carried out with the efficiency of up to 91.6% in 2 h. With the increase in polymer chain length, the efficiency decreased fleetly. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Investigation of nitroxide radical coupling reaction in wide temperature range and different catalyst system

The effect of temperature, catalyst system, and the structure of bromine connected groups on the nitroxide radical coupling (NRC) reaction is investigated in details. A series of polymers with different bromine connected groups as poly (tert‐butyl acrylate) (PtBA‐Br), polystyrene (PS‐Br), and poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA‐Br) are prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization first, then the bromine‐containing polymers were coupled with 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidinyl‐1‐oxy‐containing poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL‐TEMPO) in different catalyst systems as CuBr/PMDETA, Cu⁰/PMDETA and CuBr/Cu⁰/PMDETA in the temperature range from 90 °C to 25 °C. The result shows that the catalyst system of CuBr/Cu⁰/PMDETA is the best one for NRC reaction, in which the NRC reaction could be conducted in high efficiency in the wide temperature range from room temperature to high temperature. The efficiency of NRC reaction between PtBA‐Br and PCL‐TEMPO is more than 85% in the temperature range from 25 to 75 °C, the efficiency between PS‐Br and PCL‐TEMPO is more than 90% from 25 to 90 °C, and the efficiency between PMMA‐Br and PCL‐TEMPO is more than 90% only at the room temperature. The effect of bromine connected groups on the NRC reaction is discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2991–2999, 2010     

Pulse-radiolysis studies on 4-pyridinemethanol and 4-pyridinecarboxaldehyde in aqueous solutions: dimer radical anion formation in the case of 4-pyridinecarboxaldehyde

Reactions of e _aq ^– , H atom and OH radicals with 4-pyridinemethanol (4-PM) and 4-pyridinecarboxaldehyde (4-PCA) have been studied at various pH values using the pulse radiolysis technique. Reaction of e _aq ^– with 4-PM and 4-PCA leads to the formation of pyridinyl and ketyl radicals of 4-PM and 4-PCA, respectively. Ketyl radicals formed from 4-PCA react with the parent molecule to give a dimeric radical species. At pH 7, the equilibrium constant for the dimer formation was determined to be 13 500 M^-1. At pH 13 also dimer radical formation was observed. Reaction of e _aq ^– with 4-PM was found to give highly reducing pyridinyl radicals. Reaction of OH radicals with 4-PM gives a mixture of species,viz., OH adducts and radicals formed by H-atom abstraction from the –CH₂OH moiety. Radicals formed by H-atom abstraction reaction from 4-PM were found to be reducing in nature. O^– radicals were found to react with 4-PM exclusively by H-abstraction pathway.     

The transfer of tin and germanium atoms from N-heterocyclic stannylenes and germylenes to diazadienes

New N-heterocyclic stannylenes and germylenes were synthesized by transamination of E[N(SiMe3)2] (E = Ge, Sn) with alpha-amino-aldimines or ethylidene-1,2-diamines and were characterized by spectroscopic methods and in the case of the germylene 10 g by X-ray diffraction. The reactions of several germylenes and stannylenes with diazadienes were studied by using dynamic NMR and computational methods. Experimental and theoretical studies confirmed that metathesis with exchange of the Group 14 atom is feasible for both stannylenes and germylenes, with exchange rates being generally higher for stannylenes. The metathesis of the diazadiene 3 b and the stannylene 1 b follows second-order kinetics and exhibits a sizeable negative entropy of activation. The transfer reaction is inhibited by bulky substituents in both reactants and surprisingly coincides with a suppression of the fragmentation of the stannylene into tin and diazadiene. A connection between oxidative addition and ring fragmentation was also observed in the reaction of 1 f with sulfur. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that all metathesis reactions proceed via transient spirocyclic [1+4] cycloaddition products, the formation of which is generally endothermic and endergonic. The spirostannanes display a distorted Psi-tbp geometry at the tin atom and their cycloreversion requires low or nearly negligible activation energies; spirogermanes exhibit distorted tetrahedral central atoms and sizeable energy barriers with respect to the same reaction. Complementary studies of cycloadditions of diazadienes to triplet germylenes or stannylenes indicate that these reactions are exothermic. The lowest triplet state in the carbene homologues results from promotion of an electron from an n(N) orbital with pi character rather than the n(C)-sigma orbital as in carbenes, and singlet-triplet excitation energies decrease from carbon to tin. Spirostannanes exhibit a triplet ground-state multiplicity that implies that the energy hypersurfaces for the reactions of singlet and triplet stannylenes with diazadienes intersect; for germylenes, the singlet hypersurface is always lower in energy. A reaction mechanism explaining the different thermal stabilities of N-heterocyclic germylenes and stannylenes, and the coincidence between ring metathesis and thermal decomposition of the latter, is proposed based on the different separation of the singlet and triplet energy hypersurfaces.     

Recent advances in synthesis of organosilicons via radical strategies

Organosilicon compounds play an important role in the fields of materials science,pharmacy,and organic synthesis.The development of effective approaches for the preparation of these compounds have also become a research focus in organic synthesis.In recent years,free radical synthesis of organosilicons has been vigorously developed,which generally has the advantages of milder synthesis conditions,higher yields and selectivity,and free of precious metal catalysts compared with traditional strategies.This article reviews research progresses in the synthesis of organosilico n compounds by free radical pathways since 2016.In most cases,the radical silylation is achieved based on the reaction of silyl radicals,which are triggered by four routes including peroxide,transition-metal-induced peroxide decomposition,alkali,photocatalysis.The alkyl radicals can also initiate the radical silylation for the generation of C(sp~3)—Si bonds.     

Gel formation in atom transfer radical polymerization of 2‐(N,N‐dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate

Copolymers of 2‐(N,N‐dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization using ethyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate as the initiator, Cu(I)Br as the catalyst, and 1,1,4,7,10,10‐hexamethyltriethylene tetramine as the ligand. At low crosslinker levels, the polymerizations followed the first‐order kinetics. However, when the crosslinker level was above 10 mol %, the ln([M]₀/[M]) versus time curves showed deceleration at medium conversions because of the higher reactivity of EGDMA than that of DMAEMA. An acceleration at high conversions was also observed and probably caused by the diffusion limitations of catalyst/ligand complex in the polymer network. The hydrogels were characterized by swelling experiments, and the sol polymers were characterized by the size exclusion chromatographic technique to determine the number‐average molecular weight and polydispersity. The gel data were analyzed and, via a comparison to Flory's gelation theory, found to be more homogeneous than similar hydrogels prepared by conventional free‐radical polymerization methods. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 3780–3788, 2001     

Nature of transient species formed during pulse radiolysis of 4-mercaptopyridine in aqueous solutions: Formation of a dimer radical species by one-electron reduction reaction

Reactions of one-electron reducing as well as oxidizing radicals with 4-mercaptopyridine (4-MPy) were studied in aqueous solutions at different pH values. One-electron oxidizing radicals such as N₃ and Br₂ ^–, react with 4-MPy by electron transfer reaction at pH 11 to give 4-pyridylthiyl radical. The reduction potential for the couple 4-PyS /4-PyS^– was estimated to be 0.93V vs. NHE by equilibrium reaction with I₂ ^– /2I^– couple. At pH 6.8, where the compound is predominantly present in the thione form, the transient species formed is a cation radical. OH radicals react with 4-MPy by addition to the pyridine ring at pH 6.8 and 11. At pH 0, OH radicals as well as one-electron oxidants like Cl₂ ^– and Br₂ ^– radicals react with 4-MPy to produce the protonated form of 4-pyridylthiyl radical. At pH 6.8 and 11, e_aq ^– reaction with 4-MPy gave an initial adducts which reacted with the parent molecule to give dimer radicals. Acetone ketyl radicals were unable to reduce 4-MPy at neutral pH. Reducing radicals like H-atoms and acetone ketyl radicals reacted with 4-MPy at acidic pH by H-abstraction reaction to give the same species as produced by oxidizing radicals.     

Laser photolysis of 1-(4-nitrophenyl)-3-methylpyrazole and 1-ethyl-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-chloropyrazole

The spectral kinetic characteristics of the triplet states of 1-(4-nitrophenyl)-3-methylpyrazole (1) and 1-ethyl-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-chloropyrazole (2) were studied by the laser nanosecond photolysis technique in different solvents. The triplet lifetimes (τ_T) of molecules 1 and 2 were found to depend strongly on the solvent nature. An increase in τ_T by approximately two orders of magnitude on going from nonpolar and polar aprotic solvents (τ_T ≤ 15 ns) to aqueous-acetonitrile solutions (τ_T = 1100 ns for a volume acetonitrile to water ratio of 1 : 3) was analyzed, taking into account the influence of the medium on the relative contribution of the n,π*- and π,π*-configurations to the lowest triplet state. __________ Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 1115–1119, May, 2005.     

Luminescence properties of acridine dyes in micellar sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions containing thallium ions

The effect of external heavy Tl^I ion on the luminescence properties of Trypaflavine, Acridine Yellow, and Acridine Orange solubilized in sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles was studied. An increase in the concentration of thallium ions results in a decrease in the intensity of prompt fluorescence, an increase in the intensity of delayed fluorescence, the appearance of phosphorescence at 20 °C, and a shortening of the triplet state lifetime of the dyes. The effective and micellar Stern—Volmer constants of fluorescence quenching of the dyes by thallium ions were determined. The effective and micellar quenching rate constants of triplet states of the dyes by Tl(i) ions and lifetimes of the triplet states of the dyes in the absence of thallium ions were calculated on the basis of kinetic measurements.     

PtBMA-b-P4VP的ATRP合成及其化学转变

以α-氯代丙酸乙酯(ECP)为引发剂,N,N,N′,N″,N″-五甲基二亚乙基三胺(PMDE-TA)为配体,在N,N′-二甲基甲酰胺(DMF)溶液中引发甲基丙烯酸叔丁酯(tBMA)进行原子转移自由基聚合(ATRP),调节聚合反应时间得到了端基为氯原子,数均分子量为1.8×103~6.4×103的聚甲基丙烯酸叔丁酯(PtBMA-Cl)大分子引发剂。采用合成的5,5,7,12,12,14-六甲基-1,4,8,11-四氮杂环化合物(Me6[14]aneN4)为配体,使PtBMA-Cl引发4-乙烯吡啶(4VP)进行ATRP反应,得到了PtBMA-b-P4VP两嵌段共聚物,可使P4VP的收率达到60%。通过对PtBMA-b-P4VP的不同链段进行季铵化和水解反应,得到了聚甲基丙烯酸-b-季铵化聚4-乙烯吡啶(PMAA-b-QPVPB)亲水性嵌段共聚物。傅里叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR)、核磁共振(1H-NMR)和凝胶渗透色谱(GPC)分析表明:所得嵌段共聚物的结构明确,可将PtBMA与P4VP的链段长度之比调整在1∶0.5~1∶1的范围内。     

Raman spectroscopy of short-lived terthiophene radical cations generated by photochemical and chemical oxidation.

The Raman spectra of various terthiophene radical cations are investigated; namely those of unsubstituted terthiophene and two styryl-substituted terthiophenes. Transient pump-probe resonance Raman spectroscopy is used to measure the short-lived radical cation spectra of non-end-capped 2,2':5',2'-terthiophene (3T) and 3'-[(E)-2-(4-nitrophenyl)ethenyl]-2,2':5',2'-terthiophene (NO2-pe3T). For these two compounds, the radical cations are generated via either direct photogeneration or photochemically using the electron acceptor tetracyanoethylene. The radical cation of 5,5'-dimethyl-3'-[(E)-2-phenylethenyl]-2,2':5',2'-terthiophene (DM-pe3T) is stable for up to five minutes as a result of the two alpha end caps and continuous-wave resonance Raman spectroscopy and chemical oxidation is used to obtain the spectrum of this radical cation. The resonance Raman spectra of all three terthiophene radical cations are dominated by a group of very intense bands in the low-frequency region. These bands have been assigned, by density functional theory methods, to C-S stretching modes coupled to thiophene ring deformations. These modes are significantly less intense in the sigma-dimer of NO2-pe3T [i.e. the corresponding styryl sexithiophene (NO2-pe3T)2]. This observation is attributed to a smaller change in the C--S bond order in the sexithiophene compared to the analogous terthiophene. This bond order difference may be rationalised by consideration of the singly occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, which are involved in the electronic transition probed by the laser excitation wavelength.     

Kinetics and mechanism of sensitized photooxidation of tetramethylammonium salt of 2-(phenylthio)acetic acid in solution: Steady-state and flash photolysis studies

The mechanism for the photo-induced oxidation of the tetramethylammonium salt of 2-(phenylthio)acetic acid was elucidated. The photosensitizer was the benzophenone triplet in acetonitrile solutions. Time-resolved absorption spectra and kinetics were used to follow the intermediates which included the triplet of benzophenone, the ketyl radical of benzophenone, and an ion pair consisting of a radical anion of benzophenone and a tetramethylammonium cation. Rate constants for the growth and decay of the transients were determined along with the quantum yields of the transients. The intermediacy of other radicals was inferred by the products observed following steady-state photolysis. Quantum yields were also determined for photoproducts resulting from the steady-state irradiation. The mechanism was proposed that rationalized the quantitative observations. Of particular note was how the nature of the counter ion effected the secondary reactions of the radicals and the radical ions.     

Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated block copolymers by atom transfer radical polymerization

Well‐defined sulfonated polystyrene and block copolymers with n‐butyl acrylate (nBA) were synthesized by CuBr catalyzed living radical polymerization. Neopentyl p‐styrene sulfonate (NSS) was polymerized with ethyl‐2‐bromopropionate initiator and CuBr catalyst with N,N,N′,N′‐pentamethylethyleneamine to give poly(NSS) (PNSS) with a narrow molecular weight distribution (MWD < 1.12). PNSS was then acidified by thermolysis resulting in a polystyrene backbone with 100% sulfonic acid groups. Random copolymers of NSS and styrene with various composition ratios were also synthesized by copolymerization of NSS and styrene with different feed ratios (MWD < 1.11). Well defined block copolymers with nBA were synthesized by sequential polymerization of NSS from a poly(n‐butyl acrylate) (PnBA) precursor using CuBr catalyzed living radical polymerization (MWD < 1.29). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 5991–5998, 2008