Red and green chemiluminescence of Na, Mg, and lanthanide triphenylmethyl derivatives during oxidation by dioxygen and cerium(IV)

Chemiluminescence (CL) of triphenylmethyl organometallics (TPM), Ph₃CNa, Ph₃CMgCl, and Ph₃CLnCl₂ (Ln=Cd, Eu, and Dy), in THF and toluene during oxidation by O₂ and the (NH₄)₂Ce(NO₃)₆ complex was found. The first CL is caused by the luminescence of two emitters: (Ph₃C)^*, emitting in the green spectral region (λ_max=524, 550 nm), and an unstable product of substitution of the hydrogen atom in the phenyl ring of the Ph₃C radical, emitting in the red region (λ_max=580±20 nm). The emitter of the second CL, Ph₃C^.*, is generated in the elementary electron transfer from the Ph₃C⁻ anion to Ce^IV, reducing the latter to Ce^III. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1102–1105, June, 1999.