PULSE-RADIOLYSIS OBSERVATION OF MOLECULAR CATIONS OF AROMATIC COMPOUNDS IN HALOGENATED LIQUIDS

Electron irradiation of dilute solutions of aromatic compounds in liquid chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents results in the formation of the molecular cations of these aromatic compounds. The optical absorption spectra of the molecular cations of diphenyl, p-terphenyl, t-stilbene, and anthracene were observed by pulse-radiolysis methods, and the identity of the reactive species established from the spectra and from various scavenger effects. At room temperature the half-life of these cations in the particular solutions is on the order of a few microseconds. In solutions containing two different aromatic compounds as solutes, it was found that an electron transfer may take place between the neutral aromatic molecule of one compound and the molecular cation of the other.