Quenching mechanism of Rose Bengal triplet state involved in photosensitization of oxygen in ethylene glycol

The quenching rate constants of the excited triplet state of Rose Bengal (RB) by oxygen (k(obs)) were measured in ethylene glycol (EG) at different temperatures using nanosecond laser flash photolysis. Although a plot of the quenching rate constant k(obs) for RB triplet state vs oxygen concentration is linear at 20 degrees C, the oxygen dependence of k(obs) does not exhibit linearity but upward curvature at high temperatures from 130 to 140 degrees C. The upward curvature at high temperatures is not well-described by a kinetic scheme first postulated by Gijzeman et al., which is characterized by exciplex formation and a unimolecular dissociation of the exciplex to products, but instead by a more comprehensive mechanism involving a bimolecular dissociation in addition to a unimolecular one. The measurements of the oxygen dependence of k(obs) for RB triplet state at different temperatures yielded a reaction enthalpy for the exciplex formation of 150 kJ mol(-1). Due to the large exothermic reaction enthalpy, equilibrium was obtained for the exciplex at 20 degrees C even at low oxygen concentration and the bimolecular quenching by oxygen became the major dissociation process. The equilibrium attainment and bimolecular dissociation provide a linear oxygen dependence of k(obs) to all outward appearances. Therefore, linearity does not always mean that exciplex dissociation proceeds solely through a unimolecular mechanism.