1.2- Dioxetanes excited state energy

Finally, Richardson and his students have recently reported a study of excited state energy distribution between dissimilar carbonyl molecules produced from 1,2-dioxetanes [15] (Richardson et al., 1979). The location of the excitation energy on one or the other of the carbonyl products, as determined by trapping with olefins, appears to approach a Boltzmann-like distribution determined by the carbonyl triplet energies. 

Subsequent studies (63,64) suggested that the nature of the chemical activation process was a one-electron oxidation of the fluorescer by (27) followed by decomposition of the dioxetanedione radical anion to a carbon dioxide radical anion. Back electron transfer to the radical cation of the fluorescer produced the excited state which emitted the luminescence characteristic of the fluorescent state of the emitter. The chemical activation mechanism was patterned after the CIEEL mechanism proposed for dioxetanones and dioxetanes discussed earher (65). Additional support for the CIEEL mechanism, was furnished by demonstration (66) that a linear correlation existed between the singlet excitation energy of the fluorescer and the chemiluminescence intensity which had been shown earher with dimethyl dioxetanone (67). 

The most commonplace substrates in energy-transfer analytical CL methods are aryl oxalates such as to(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate (TCPO) and z s(2,4-dinitrophenyl) oxalate (DNPO), which are oxidized with hydrogen peroxide [7, 8], In this process, which is known as the peroxyoxalate-CL (PO-CL) reaction, the fluorophore analyte is a native or derivatized fluorescent organic substance such as a polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon, dansylamino acid, carboxylic acid, phenothiazine, or catecholamines, for example. The mechanism of the reaction between aryl oxalates and hydrogen peroxide is believed to generate dioxetane-l,2-dione, which may itself decompose to yield an excited-state species. Its interaction with a suitable fluorophore results in energy transfer to the fluorophore, and the subsequent emission can be exploited to develop analytical CL-based determinations. 

Peroxyoxalate-based CL reactions are related to the hydrogen peroxide oxidation of an aryl oxalate ester, producing a high-energy intermediate. This intermediate (l,2-dioxetane-3,4-dione) forms, in the presence of a fluorophore, a charge transfer complex that dissociates to yield an excited-state fluorophore, which then emits. This type of CL reaction can be used to determine hydrogen peroxide or fluorophores including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dansyl- or fluores-camine-labeled analytes, or, indirectly, nonfluorescers that are easily oxidized (e.g., sulfite, nitrite) and quench the emission. The most widely used oxalate... 

On the basis of mechanistic studies, mainly on these isolable cychc four-membered peroxides (1 and 2), two main efficient chemiexcitation mechanisms can be defined in organic peroxide decomposition (i) the unimolecular decomposition or rearrangement of high-energy compounds leading to the formation of excited-state products, exemplified here in the case of the thermal decomposition of 1,2-dioxetane (equation i)". 5,i9. 

In this part of the chapter, we will briefly outline the main types of CL reactions which can be functionally classified by the nature of the excitation process that leads to the formation of the electronically excited state of the light-emitting species. Direct chemiluminescence is the term employed for a reaction in which the excited product is formed directly from the unimolecular reaction of a high-energy intermediate that has been formed in prior reaction steps. The simplest example of this type of CL is the unimolecular decomposition of 1,2-dioxetanes, which are isolated HEI. Thermal decomposition of 1,2-dioxetanes leads mainly to the formation of triplet-excited carbonyl compounds. Although singlet-excited carbonyl compounds are produced in much lower yields, their fluorescence emission constitutes the direct chemiluminescence emission observed in these transformations under normal conditions in aerated solutions ... 

The optically active 1,2-dioxetane of 2,4-adamantanedione (89) was synthesized. Thermal activation of 89 yielded chemiluminescence (Xmax = 420 nm characteristic of ketone fluorescence), pointing to intermediate 90 which is chiral only in its excited state due to the out-of-plane geometry of one of the two carbonyl groups. However, circular polarization of chemiluminescence measurement of 90 has not detected optical activity at the moment of emission. The authors have concluded that fast, relative to the lifetime of ketone singlet excited state, intramolecular n, it energy transfer caused racemization of 90196. 

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