Photoinitiator electron transfer complex

Cytochromes, catalases, and peroxidases all contain iron-heme centers. Nitrite and sulfite reductases, involved in N-O and S-O reductive cleavage reactions to NH3 and HS-, contain iron-heme centers coupled to [Fe ] iron-sulfur clusters. Photosynthetic reaction center complexes contain porphyrins that are implicated in the photoinitiated electron transfers carried out by the complexes. 

This review highlights recent studies of synthetic, covalently linked multicomponent molecular devices which mimic aspects of photosynthetic electron transfer. After an introduction to the topic, some of the salient features of natural bacterial photosynthetic reaction centers are described. Elementary electron transfer theory is briefly discussed in order to provide a framework for the discussion which follows. Early work with covalently linked photosynthetic models is then mentioned, with references to recent reviews. The bulk of the discussion concerns current progress with various triad (three-part) molecules. Finally, some even more complex multicomponent molecules are examined. The discussion will endeavor to point out aspects of photoinitiated electron transfer which are unique to the multicomponent species, and some of the considerations important to the design, synthesis and photochemical study of such molecules. 

Figure 4. Combination of energy transfer and photoinitiated electron transfer for signal amplification. The transient radical absorption (sec Figure 3) generated by excitation of the oxacyanine dye with UV radiation (366 nm) acts as energy acceptor and quenches partly the red emission at 590 nm of the monolayer of Vt.ti -dioctadecylindocarhocyanine excited simultaneously at 545 nm. The periodical irradiation of the complex system with the UV radiation causes a modulation of the indocarbocyanine fluorescence.

The initiating radicals are assumed to be SCN, ONO or N3 free radicals. Tris oxalate-ferrate-amine anion salt complexes have been studied as photoinitiators (A = 436 nm) of acrylamide polymer [48]. In this initiating system it is proposed that the CO2 radical anion found in the primary photolytic process reacts with iodonium salt (usually diphenyl iodonium chloride salt) by an electron transfer mechanism to give photoactive initiating phenyl radicals by the following reaction machanism ... 

Metal-substituted hemoglobin hybrids, [MP, Fe " (H20)P] are particularly attractive for the study of long-range electron transfer within protein complexes. Both photoinitiated and thermally activated electron transfer can be studied by flash excitation of Zn- or Mg-substituted complexes. Direct spectroscopic observation of the charge-separated intermediate, [(MP), Fe " P], unambiguously demonstrates photoinitiated ET, and the time course of this ET process indicates the presence of thermal ET. Replacement of the coordinated H2O in the protein containing the ferric heme with anionic ligands (CN , F , Nj ) dramatically lowers the photoinitiated rate constant, k(, but has a relatively minor effect on the thermal rate, kg. 

Redox substitution reactions can be photoinitiated. Taube first proposed that the photo-catalyzed substitution of PtCll- occurs by an electron-transfer process (equation 560) to give a kinetically labile platinum(III) intermediate.2040 Further work on this system has shown that the exchange occurs with quantum yields up to 1000,2041-2043 and the intermediate has beer assigned a lifetime in the fis range.2044 Recently the binuclear platinum(III) complexes Pt2(P2OsH2)4Xr (X = Cl, Br, I) have been found to show similar behavior and both photoreduction and complementary redox reactions are again proposed to explain the substitution behavior.1500... 

Cationic polymerizations induced by thermally and photochemically latent N-benzyl and IV-alkoxy pyridinium salts, respectively, are reviewed. IV-Benzyl pyridinium salts with a wide range of substituents of phenyl, benzylic carbon and pyridine moiety act as thermally latent catalysts to initiate the cationic polymerization of various monomers. Their initiation activities were evaluated with the emphasis on the structure-activity relationship. The mechanisms of photoinitiation by direct and indirect sensitization of IV-alkoxy pyridinium salts are presented. The indirect action can be based on electron transfer reactions between pyridinium salt and (a) photochemically generated free radicals, (b) photoexcited sensitizer, and (c) electron rich compounds in the photoexcited charge transfer complexes. IV-Alkoxy pyridinium salts also participate in ascorbate assisted redox reactions to generate reactive species capable of initiating cationic polymerization. The application of pyridinium salts to the synthesis of block copolymers of monomers polymerizable with different mechanisms are described. 

Hydroxytelechelic polymers can be synthesized via a photoinitiated radical process 49,50 76 77). This reaction resembles that of the redox system because an electron transfer mechanism is operative and the synthesis is carried out in aqueous solution. The reactive species is a complex ion such as Fe3+, X (OH-, Cl-, N". ..). The light absorption (hv) by the ionic species results in an electron transfer reducing the cation oxidation of the anion leads to a free radical X which initiates the polymerization. 

Metal salts and complexes continue to attract interest as radical/ionic initiators. Trisoxalatoferrate/amine anion salts have been studied as initiators of the polymerization of acrylamide. Here the anion salts react with photolytically formed COa " radicals by an electron transfer mechanism to give photoactive initiating phenyl radicals by the set of reactions shown in Scheme 9. Ferric o-phenanthroline has been shown to be a good photoinitiator for... 

More recently, the use of picosecond and femtosecond lasers in reaction dynamics opened up the field of femtochemistry, which was pioneered by Zewail [51-54]. The idea of these reactions is to photoinitiate the reactive process in a van der Waals complex. Sometimes, the process that is initiated is a simple dissociation or the isomerization of a free molecule. In each case, the reaction is initiated by a first ultrashort laser pulse (the pump pulse). It is analyzed after a certain delay by a second pulse (the probe pulse). This gives access to the reaction dynamics on the pertinent time-scale where chemical bonds are broken and others are formed. Depending on the system, this typically lasts between a few tenths of femtoseconds to hundredths of picoseconds. Recently the techniques of stereodynamies have been combined by Zewail and co-workers with femtosecond analysis [55, 56] to label specific reaction channels in electron-transfer reactions. 

In the present ehapter we consider the inter- or intramolecular photoinduced electron transfer phenomenon. We mainly focus on photoinduced electron transfer processes that lead to the photoinitiation of polymerization, and on processes initiated by photoredueed or photooxidized excited states. We concentrate especially on a description of the kinetic schemes, a description of the reactions that follow the primary proeess of eleetron transfer, and the characteristics of intermediates formed after electron transfer. Understanding the complexity of the processes of photo-initiated polymerization requires a thorough analysis of the examples illustrating the meehanistie aspects of the formation of free radicals with the ability to start polymerization. 

Mixtures of photoinitiators have been actively studied. Michler s Ketone and benzoyl peroxide have been shown to effectively induce the photopolymerisation of methyl methacrylate through the formation of an initial complex shown in scheme 3 7, Although the exact initiating radical does not appear to be ascertained it is almost certainly the arylalkylamino radical from the Michler s Ketone. In the interaction of benzil and thioxanthone with triethylamine in the photoinduced polymerisation of acrylic monomers their is a competition between reverse electron transfer and ketyl radical formation . As the carbonyl concentration increases the bimolecular termination rates due to radical recombination increases. The same workers also studied the same system but replaced the ketone initiators with pyrene . Their inability to identify pyrene end groups indicated that the active initiating species arise from a complex between the pyrene and the triethylamine. 

Photoinitiator systems from hydrogen abstraction or electron transfer usually contain two components a photoinitiator (typically an aromatic ketone) and a co-initiator with a weak covalent bond. Some examples for this system include benzophenones (1), thioxanthones (2), benzyls (3), camphor-quinones (CQs) (4), and ketocoumarins (5), which can be used in the presence of H donors (alcohols, THE, and thiols) or electron donors (such as amines) (Table 2). One of the drawbacks of photoinitiation requiring electron transfer is back electron transfer that limits their practical utility. For this reason, the acidity of the C-H bond of the co-initiator is of great importance. A few initiators are also able to undergo cationic and radical photoinitiation such as iodium and sodium salts and arene complexes. ... 

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