Exciplex formation, charge transfer reactions

Steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy has also been used to study solvation processes in supercritical fluids. For example, Okada et al. (29) and Kajimoto and co-workers (30) studied intramolecular excited-state complexation (exciplex) and charge-transfer formation, respectively, in supercritical CHF3. In the latter studies, the observed spectral shift was more than expected based on the McRae theory (56,57), this was attributed to cluster formation. In other studies, Brennecke and Eckert (5,31,44,45) examined the fluorescence of pyrene in supercritical CO2, C2HSteady-state emission spectra were used to show density augmentation near the critical point. Additional studies investigated the formation of the pyrene excimer (i.e., the reaction of excited- and ground-state pyrene monomers to form the excited-state dimer). These authors concluded that the observance of the pyrene excimer in the supercritical fluid medium was a consequence of increased solute-solute interactions. 

We will briefly describe the kinetics of the two-state system, and then apply the result to some common examples of inter and/or intramolecular reactions excimer formation, charge transfer (leading to an exciplex), electron transfer (leading to radical ions), proton transfer or isomerisation. Scheme 15.6 is a condensed representation of the two-state system. 

Not all sensitized photochemical reactions occur by electronic energy transfer. Schenck<77,78) has proposed that many sensitized photoreactions involve a sensitizer-substrate complex. The nature of this interaction could vary from case to case. At one extreme this interaction could involve a-bond formation and at the other extreme involve loose charge transfer or exciton interaction (exciplex formation). The Schenck mechanism for a photosensitized reaction is illustrated by the following hypothetical reaction ... 

If added substances absoroing at higher frequencies are present the quenching mechanism is visualized to proceed through transient complex formation in the excited state. They are known as exciplexes and have pronounced charge transfer character. Exciplexes may decay radiatively, nonradiatively or lead to reaction products. 

Oxetane formation is presumed to occur via the singlet exciplex however, excitation of the ground state charge-transfer complex may be necessary in order for the formation of 39 to compete with the rapid isomerization of c-1. The factors which favor oxetane versus cyclobutane formation in this reaction are not understood. 

All of the photochemical cycloaddition reactions of the stilbenes are presumed to occur via excited state ir-ir type complexes (excimers, exciplexes, or excited charge-transfer complexes). Both the ground state and excited state complexes of t-1 are more stable than expected on the basis of redox potentials and singlet energy. Exciplex formation helps overcome the entropic problems associated with a bimolecular cycloaddition process and predetermines the adduct stereochemistry. Formation of an excited state complex is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for cycloaddition. In fact, increased exciplex stability can result in decreased quantum yields for cycloaddition, due to an increased barrier for covalent bond formation (Fig. 2). The cycloaddition reactions of t-1 proceed with complete retention of stilbene and alkene photochemistry, indicative of either a concerted or short-lived singlet biradical mechanism. The observation of acyclic adduct formation in the reactions of It with nonconjugated dienes supports the biradical mechanism. 

Photoinitiators are generally aryl alkyl ketones or diaryl ketones (Table 2.19). For aryl alkyl ketones two free radicals are produced by homolytic scission of a C-C bond (Eq. (2.96)). Diaryl ketones are usually mixed with a tertiary amine the mechanism of production of free radicals involves H abstraction from the tertiary amine by the excited state PI, via a charge-transfer stabilized exciplex (Eq. (2.97)). The a-amino alkyl radical formed is very reactive and is in fact the true initiator because the cetyl radical disappears rapidly through a coupling reaction (formation of pinacol). 

The lack of reactivity of the aryloxazolinones (65) in photocycloaddition to many of the olefins other than 1,1-dimethoxyethene and furan probably results from efficient decay of E2 or D. Exciplex E2 and diradical D are proposed as intermediates in these cases for several reasons. Exciplex formation is most likely dependent on olefin ionization potential, and the ionization potential of many of the un-reactive olefins are intermediate between the ionization potential of furan and 1,1-dimethoxyethene as determined from the maxima of tetracynoethylene olefin charge transfer bands60 66,67. Although ds-2-butene does not form a cycloadduct with 2-phenyl-2-oxazolin-4-one (65a), ds-2-butene is isomerized to rram-2-butene during the irradiation52. Cis-trans isomerization is expected from decay of a triplet diradical. Decay of the exciplex and diradical intermediates in competition with reaction presumably results from steric hindrance from the aryl substituent. The olefins which give cycloadducts, furan and 1,1-dimethoxyethene, are expected to produce low steric hindrance with the aryl substituent in an exciplex or diradical. 

Intermolecular photoreaction of an aryl halide with another aromatic compound may lead to the formation of biaryls. In this section several examples of such reactions will be discussed. In some cases, information concerning the reaction mechanism is available but the depth to which mechanisms have been investigated varies greatly. In many cases aryl radicals formed by homolysis of the carbon-halogen bond are the reactive species. Such radicals may also be produced via electron transfer, followed by departure of halide anion. In some cases aryl cations have been proposed as intermediates. Intermolecular bond formation may also be preceded by charge transfer within an exciplex or by formation of radical ion pairs. 

The mechanism of the [3 + 2] cycloaddition is summarized in Scheme The first intermediate results from charge transfer interaction between the eli tronically excited aromatic compound at its singlet state S1 with the alkene w] leads to the formation of the exciplexes K. A more stable intermediate is generated by the formation of two C-C bonds, leading to the intermediates These intermediates have still singlet multiplicity and therefore possess zwii ionic mesomeric structures mainly of type M. In most cases and especially intramolecular reactions, chiral induction occurs during the formation of L. final products are then obtained by cyclopropane formation in the last step. 

The earlier sections have described the evidence for relaxed and non-relaxed exciplexes giving rise to full electron transfer with the formation of solvated radical ions. With many systems, the possibility exists for electron transfer to occur without prior formation of a contact charge-transfer complex if a solvent of sufficiently high polarity is used such is the case for [41]. The intramolecular radical ion of [41] in acetonitrile has a relative short lifetime ( 30 nsec) and this illustrates the point that to obtain stable reaction products via electron-transfer reactions (28) one has to overcome the important back electron-transfer reaction (28b). 

---