| Abstract: | Abstract— The photosensitized oxidations of rubrene by methylene blue and of diphenylan-thracene by eosin have been studied where the sensitizer and the oxidizable substrate are separated by oxygen permeable layers of barium or cadmium stearate monomolecular films. The rate of the photosensitized oxidation reaction was followed by measurements of the hydrocarbon fluorescence, as a function of the stearate layer thickness. It has been found that the sensitized reaction is observable for thickness up to 500 Å and depends only on the deactivation process of the excited species (singlet oxygen) diffusing through the layers. It has been found also that half of the excited oxygen molecules are deactivated after a diffusion path of 115 A. The starting hydrocarbon can be regenerated by heating the sample after the photoreaction to approximately 120°C showing the transannular peroxide nature of the oxidation product. |
