Singlet oxygen and polymer photooxidations. I. Sensitizers,quenchers, and reactants

A study designed to ascertain the role of singlet molecular oxygen in the photodegradation of plastics established that most classes of dye chromophores are sensitizers in polymer films, absorbing light and transferring the absorbed energy to ambient triplet ground state molecular oxygen, generating metastable reactive singlet molecular oxygen. Unsaturated polymers containing polybutadiene, polyisoprene, etc. are highly reactive to singlet oxygen produced through photosensitization, generating hydroxylic and carbonyl derivatives and losing their rubbery properties as consequences of such reactions. Many types of transition metal chelates are singlet oxygen quenchers. The relationships of the structures and spectroscopic properties of these chelates to their efficiency in quenching singlet oxygen are examined and discussed.