The detection and characterization of free radical species

The use of resonance Raman spectroscopy for the study of transient species, including free radicals, has been reviewed be Hester (1978). Provided only that excitation may be achieved within an intense absorption band specific to the intermediate species, selective resonance enhancement permits the detection and characterization of such species at concentrations in the lO" - 10 molar range without serious interference from spectra of other dissolved species such as excess reactant and product molecules. 

The general principle of detection of free radicals is based on the spectroscopy (absorption and emission) and mass spectrometry (ionization) or combination of both. An early review has summarized various techniques to detect small free radicals, particularly diatomic and triatomic species.68 Essentially, the spectroscopy of free radicals provides basic knowledge for the detection of radicals, and the spectroscopy of numerous free radicals has been well characterized (see recent reviews2-4). Two experimental techniques are most popular for spectroscopy studies and thus for detection of radicals laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI). In the photochemistry studies of free radicals, the intense, tunable and narrow-bandwidth lasers are essential for both the detection (via spectroscopy and photoionization) and the photodissociation of free radicals. 

Kiperman [31] also warns that detection of free radicals in the postcatalyst volume in itself cannot serve as concrete proof of their direct participation in the process. The relation also has to be revealed between the nature of these radicals formed in the volume and the intermediates of the true heterogeneous component of the reaction. Obviously, sophisticated analytical and characterization procedures are needed to elucidate the nature of the species reacting on and desorbing from a catalytic surface. A powerful tool to study adsorption and desorption of radicals from surface is laser-induced fluorescence, applied to hydroxyl and oxygen radicals by a number of researchers cf. Ref 37. Such techniques will continue to aid in the elucidation of heterogeneous-homogeneous mechanisms. 

Abstract ESR spectroscopic applications to polymer science are presented. ESR parameters used for the molecular and material characterization of polymer materials are reviewed. It is emphasized that ESR studies of the polymer science are particularly effective in three areas. (1) Intermediate species such as free radicals produced in chemical reactions of polymer materials can be directly detected. (2) The temperature dependent ESR spectra of free radicals trapped in the polymer matrices are very effective for the evaluation of molecular mobility (molecular motion) of polymer chains. (3) The mobility of electron, the structure of solitons, and the doping behavior in conduction polymers can be observed in detail in order to clarify the mechanism of conduction. 

Photocycloaddition and photoaddition can be utilized for new carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond formation under mild conditions from synthetic viewpoints. In last three decades, a large number of these photoreactions between electron-donating and electron-accepting molecules have been appeared and discussed in the literature, reviews, and books [1-10]. In these photoreactions, a variety of reactive intermediates such as excimers, exciplexes, triplexes, radical ion pairs, and free-radical ions have been postulated and some of them have been detected as transient species to understand the reaction mechanism. Most of reactive species in solution have been already characterized by laser flash photolysis techniques, but still the prediction for the photochemical process is hard to visualize. In preparative organic photochemistry, the dilemma that the transient species including emission are hardly observed in the reaction system giving high chemical yields remains in most cases [11,12]. 

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