Peculiarities in free electron transfer

Ionizing irradiation of non-polar solvents generates radical cations which in the case of alkanes and alkyl chlorides are metastable and can be detected in the nanosecond time range. In the presence of solutes, free electron transfer (FET) to the parent radical cations can occur. In most cases, this reaction enables the easy generation of a lot of scavenger radical cations. From the unusual product distribution of the FET involving phenols, general peculiarities of the free electron transfer compared with the commonly known photosensitized process are derived and discussed. They are presented here in a minireview manner.