Time laser flash photolysis

Closs G L and Miller R J 1979 Laser flash photolysis with NMR detection. Microsecond time-resolved CIDNP separation of geminate and random-phase polarization J. Am. Chem. Soc. 101 1639—41... 

Miller R J and Closs G L 1981 Application of Fourier transform-NMR spectroscopy to submicrosecond time-resolved detection in laser flash photolysis experiments Rev. Sc/. Instrum. 52 1876-85... 

Many experimental methods may be distinguished by whether and how they achieve time resolution—directly or indirectly. Indirect methods avoid the requirement for fast detection methods, either by detemiining relative rates from product yields or by transfonuing from the time axis to another coordinate, for example the distance or flow rate in flow tubes. Direct methods include (laser-) flash photolysis [27], pulse radiolysis [28]... 

Figure B2.5.11. Schematic set-up of laser-flash photolysis for detecting reaction products with uncertainty-limited energy and time resolution. The excitation CO2 laser pulse LP (broken line) enters the cell from the left, the tunable cw laser beam CW-L (frill line) from the right. A filter cell FZ protects the detector D, which detennines the time-dependent absorbance, from scattered CO2 laser light. The pyroelectric detector PY measures the energy of the CO2 laser pulse and the photon drag detector PD its temporal profile. A complete description can be found in [109].

A recent study of the vibrational-to-vibrational (V-V) energy transfer between highly-excited oxygen molecules and ozone combines laser-flash photolysis and chemical activation with detection by time-resolved LIF [ ]. Partial laser-flash photolysis at 532 mn of pure ozone in the Chappuis band produces translationally-... 

Figure lb shows the transient absorption spectra of RF (i.e. the difference between the ground singlet and excited triplet states) obtained by laser-flash photolysis using a Nd Yag pulsed laser operating at 355 nm (10 ns pulse width) as excitation source. At short times after the laser pulse, the transient spectrum shows the characteristic absorption of the lowest vibrational triplet state transitions (0 <— 0) and (1 <— 0) at approximately 715 and 660 nm, respectively. In the absence of GA, the initial triplet state decays with a lifetime around 27 ps in deoxygenated solutions by dismutation reaction to form semi oxidized and semi reduced forms with characteristic absorption bands at 360 nm and 500-600 nm and (Melo et al., 1999). However, in the presence of GA, the SRF is efficiently quenched by the gum with a bimolecular rate constant = 1.6x10 M-is-i calculated... 

Final resolution of these problems, particularly the complications from multiple matrix sites, came from investigations using spectroscopic methods with higher time resolution, viz. laser flash photolysis. Short laser pulse irradiation of diazofluorene (36) in cold organic glasses produced the corresponding fluorenylidene (37), which could be detected by UV/VIS spectroscopy. Now, in contrast to the results from EPR spectroscopy, single exponential decays of the carbene could be observed in matrices... 

Much attention has been devoted to the development of methods to generate quinone methides photochemically,1,19-20 since this provides temporal and spatial control over their formation (and subsequent reaction). In addition, the ability to photogenerate quinone methides enables their study using time-resolved absorption techniques (such as nanosecond laser flash photolysis (LFP)).21 This chapter covers the most important methods for the photogeneration of ortho-, meta-, and para-quinone methides. In addition, spectral and reactivity data are discussed for quinone methides that are characterized by LFP. 

For the investigation of triplet state properties a laser flash photolysis apparatus was used. The excitation source was a Lambda Physik 1 M 50A nitrogen laser which furnished pulses of 3.5 ns half-width and 2 mJ energy. The fluorescence decay times were measured with the phase fluorimeter developed by Hauser et al. (11). 

The formation of 7a was also observed in solution using laser flash photolysis (LFP) with nanosecond time resolution.25,26 In Freon-113 7a shows an absorption maximum at 470 nm, and a life-time of longer than 20 xs.25 The rate of 2.9 x 109 M 1 s-1 for this reaction is almost the diffusion limit and implies a very small or absent barrier. In aqueous solution the rate constant for the reaction of la with 3Oj is 3.5 x 109 M-1 s-1, and the absorption maximum of 7a was determined as 460 nm.26 This clearly demonstrates that the oxidation of carbene la in solid argon and in solution follows the same reaction pathway. 

Laser flash photolysis and time-resolved fluorescence 175... 

LASER FLASH PHOTOLYSIS AND TIME-RESOLVED FLUORESCENCE... 

Laser flash photolysis experiments48,51 are based on the formation of an excited state by a laser pulse. Time resolutions as short as picoseconds have been achieved, but with respect to studies on the dynamics of supramolecular systems most studies used systems with nanosecond resolution. Laser irradiation is orthogonal to the monitoring beam used to measure the absorption of the sample before and after the laser pulse, leading to measurements of absorbance differences (AA) vs. time. Most laser flash photolysis systems are suitable to measure lifetimes up to hundreds of microseconds. Longer lifetimes are in general not accessible because of instabilities in the lamp of the monitoring beam and the fact that the detection system has been optimized for nanosecond experiments. 

The actual limit value of rr, below which the time constraint is met for a given transducer, is somewhat ambiguous. For a 0.5 MHz transducer (response time 2 xs), Mulder et al. [297] set this limit at 60 ns, based on the observation of a maximum of amplitude of the photoacoustic wave with the concentration of phenol and calculating rr from the rate constant of reaction 13.24, k = 3.3 x 108 mol-1 dm3 s-1 [298]. Later, Wayner et al. [293] empirically choose 100 ns as that limit and used laser flash photolysis results to adjust the phenol concentration until the lifetime of reaction 13.24 was less than that limit. In any case, the safest way of ensuring that the time constraint is being met is to verify it experimentally by varying the concentration of substrate until the observed waveform reaches a maximum (or, equivalently, until the final A0bs77 value reaches a maximum). 

The photodecarboxylation of p-(nitrophenyl) glyoxylic acid 156, which was studied by time-resolved and steady-state methods at room temperature93, leads to p-nitrosobenzoic acid and carbon dioxide in good yields with = 0.28 in aqueous solution at pH 2-12 and excitation at 313, 280 or 254 nm (equation 76). An intermediate (Xmax = 350, r 2 xs) observed by nanosecond laser flash photolysis is assigned to the aci-form of the nitroketene... 

Photolysis ofbenzylchlorodiazirine (3) in the presence of tetramethylethylene (TME) is known to produce ( )- and (Z)-/l-chlorostyrene (4) and the cyclopropane (5). Plots of [5]/[4] vs [TME] are curved, consistent with the existence of two pathways for the formation of the alkenes (4). Benzylchlorocarbene (BnClC ) was generated by laser flash photolysis of the phenanthrene (6) in the presence of TME. In this case, plots of [5]/[4] vs [TME] are linear, mling out the possibility that the second pathway to the alkenes (4) involves reaction of a carbene-alkene complex. Time-resolved IR spectroscopy revealed that diazirine (3) rearranges to the corresponding diazo compound, but this process is too inefficient to account for the curvatures. It is proposed that the second pathway to alkene formation involves the excited state of the diazirine. 

Cyclohexyl xanthate has been used as a model compound for mechanistic studies [43]. From laser flash photolysis experiments the absolute rate constant of the reaction with (TMS)3Si has been measured (see Table 4.3). From a competition experiment between cyclohexyl xanthate and -octyl bromide, xanthate was ca 2 times more reactive than the primary alkyl bromide instead of ca 50 as expected from the rate constants reported in Tables 4.1 and 4.3. This result suggests that the addition of silyl radical to thiocarbonyl moiety is reversible. The mechanism of xanthate reduction is depicted in Scheme 4.3 (TMS)3Si radicals, initially generated by small amounts of AIBN, attack the thiocarbonyl moiety to form in a reversible manner a radical intermediate that undergoes (3-scission to form alkyl radicals. Hydrogen abstraction from the silane gives the alkane and (TMS)3Si radical, thus completing the cycle of this chain reaction. 

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