QUENCHING OF TRIPLET-STATES OF AROMATIC KETONES BY SULFUR-CONTAINING AMINO-ACIDS IN SOLUTION - EVIDENCE FOR ELECTRON-TRANSFER

The mechanism for quenching triplet states of benzophenones by sulfur-containing amino acids in water/acetonitrile solution was investigated by laser flash photolysis. The amino acids in the study were methionine, S-methylcysteine, and S-carboxymethylcysteine, and the eight aromatic triplets were those of benzophenone and its derivatives possessing electron-withdrawing or electron-donating groups. The presence of radical ions in the transient spectra and correlations of the quenching rate constants with the free energy change for electron transfer are strong indications that the process involves an electron transfer. These correlations were displayed as Rehm-Weller plots (logarithm of quenching rate vs free energy). Classical theoretical formulations of the Rehm-Weller correlations were used to estimate the intrinsic barriers and the transmission coefficients for the electron-transfer processes. Applying both ''quadratic'' Marcus and ''asymptotic'' Agmon-Levine free energy relationships led to the values of intrinsic barriers lower than the solvent reorganization energy calculated within the framework of the dielectric continuum model. These relationships also led to low electronic transmission coefficients. The low values of the intrinsic barriers for electron transfer were also obtained using the recently developed Tachiya approach which allowed for variable electron-transfer distance. Possible explanations were given for the resulting multiple Rehm-Weller plots with different plateau values for each of the amino acids studied.