Solvent radiolysis

Ionizing radiations (a, ft and y) react unselectively with all molecules and hence in the case of solutions they react mainly with the solvent. The changes induced in the solute due to radiolysis are consequences of the reactions of the solute with the intermediates formed by the radiolysis of the solvent. Radiolysis of water leads to formation of stable molecules H2 and H2O2, which mostly do not take part in further reactions, and to very reactive radicals the hydrated electron eaq, hydrogen atom H" and the hydroxyl radical OH" (equation 2). The first two radicals are reductants while the third one is an oxidant. However there are some reactions in which H atom reacts similarly to OH radical rather than to eaq, as e.g. abstraction of an hydrogen atom from alcohols, addition to a benzene ring or to an olefinic double bond, etc. 

Complexes with organic compounds have been reported. Solubility studies with tributyl phosphate (TBP) indicate the formation of a complex PoC14-2TBP (IS). Weighable amounts of polonium tetrachloride in dilute hydrochloric acid can be titrated to a colorless end point with ethylene-diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) the results suggest a complex with two molecules of EDTA, but solubility studies favor a 1 1 complex. The EDTA complex is soluble in alkali and is more stable in alkaline than in acid media, but the ligand is rapidly destroyed by the radiation and solvent radiolysis products 12). However, EDTA can apparently be used to complex trace polonium in the separation of radium D-E-F mixtures (129). 

Geminate recombinations and spur reactions have been widely studied in water, both experimentally and theoretically [13-16], and also in a few alcohols [17,18]. Typically, recombinations occur on a timescale of tens to hundreds of picoseconds. In general, the primary cation undergoes a fast proton transfer reaction with a solvent molecule to produce the stable solvated proton and the free radical. Consequently, the recombination processes are complex and depend on the solvent. The central problem in the theory of geminate ion recombination is to describe the relative motion and reaction between the two particles with opposite charges initially separated by a distance rg. In water, the primary products of solvent radiolysis are the hydrated electron e ", the hydroxyl radical OH and the hydronium cation H3O+ ... 

Effect of solvent. Generally there are two reasons for the specific effect of solvents in radiation-induced polymerization (1) the effect of the products of solvent radiolysis and (2) the redistribution of the absorbed radiation energy between the components of the monomer-solvent system. 

This dissolution process takes place in many solvents to an extent governed by Eq. (3). Solvated electrons can be formed in all solvents by many means. Their kinetics is best studied with the use of pulse radiolysis. 

The absorption of radiation produces unstable species. Flash photolysis does so by interaction of light with a solute. The transient may be a photoexcited state or a molecular fragment. Pulse radiolysis starts with highly reactive entities formed by dissociation of the solvent (e.g., H, eaq, and HO from H20) and consists of a study of their reactions or of reactive transients derived from them. In either case one monitors the ensuing reactions by luminescence (for excited states), light absorption, or conductivity changes. 

Radiolytic reduction has been investigated as a means of producing transient Rh(II) porphyrin products, and as in the above study, the observed products were strongly dependent on pH and solvent. Radiolytic reduction of Rh(TMP)Cl in alcohol formed transient Rh(TMP)- which was prevented from dimerization by the bulky TMP ligand. In alkaline 2-propanol the product is [Rh(TMP)r. in weakly acidic 2-propanol the hydride Rh(TMP)H is formed, and in strongly acidic 2-propanol the alkylated rhodium(III) porphyrins Rh(TMP)CH3 and Rh(TMP) (C(CH 3)20H) are observed. The alkyl products result from reaction of Rh(TMP)-with CH3- and C(CH3)20H formed by radiolysis of the 2-propanol solvent. 

By pulse radiolysis of nitrous oxide-saturated aqueous solutions of ferricyanide (2 X 10 " M) and various alcohols (0.1 M), Adams and Willson " were able to obtain absolute rate coefficients for the ferricyanide oxidation of the radicals derived from the alcohols by attack of the solvent irradiation product, OH-. 

The effect of irradiation on the extractability of sulfoxides towards plutonium, uranium and some fission products were studied by Subramanian and coworkers . They studied mainly the effect of irradiation on dihexyl sulfoxide (DHSO) and found that irradiation did not change the distribution coefficient for Ru, Eu and Ce but increases the distribution coefficient for Zr and Pu. When comparing DHSO and tributyl phosphate (TBP), the usual solvent for the recovery and purification of plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear fuels, the effect of irradiation to deteriorate the extraction capability is much larger in TBP. Lan and coworkers studied diphenyl sulfoxides as protectors for the gamma radiolysis of TBP. It was found that diphenyl sulfoxide can accept energy from two different kinds of excited TBP and thus inhibits the decomposition of the latter. 

The complexed halide atoms are produced by high energy radiation in solutions of colloids that contain halide anions X and are saturated with nitrous oxide. Hydrated electrons formed in the radiolysis of the aqueous solvent react with NjO according to NjO -f e -f H O - Nj -t- OH -I- OH to form additional OH radicals. Ions X are oxidized by OH, the atoms X thus formed react rapidly with X to yield XJ radicals. 

A 22 year old glass ampoule containing an aqueous solution of radon was under considerable pressure when opened and ejected the top vigorously. This was attributed to formation of hydrogen by radiolysis of the solvent water. 

It is now clearly demonstrated through the use of free radical traps that all organic liquids will undergo cavitation and generate bond homolysis, if the ambient temperature is sufficiently low (i.e., in order to reduce the solvent system s vapor pressure) (89,90,161,162). The sonolysis of alkanes is quite similar to very high temperature pyrolysis, yielding the products expected (H2, CH4, 1-alkenes, and acetylene) from the well-understood Rice radical chain mechanism (89). Other recent reports compare the sonolysis and pyrolysis of biacetyl (which gives primarily acetone) (163) and the sonolysis and radiolysis of menthone (164). Nonaqueous chemistry can be complex, however, as in the tarry polymerization of several substituted benzenes (165). 

Irradiation of mixtures of cyclohexene with 1,3-cyclohexadiene leads to high yield of dimers (G = 6.3)86. Schutte and Freeman87 found that radiolysis of 1,3-cyclohexadiene dissolved in various solvents gives dimers mainly via cationic Diels-Alder addition,... 

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