Photophysical and photochemical properties of an aromatic carbonyl compound for a moderate triplet energy sensitizer studied by steady state and laser flash photolysis

1-Benzoyl-2-phenylacetylene (BPA) having a moderate triplet energy (65 kcal mol(-1)) was prepared, and steady state and laser photolysis techniques were conducted to characterize the photochemical features of the triplet state and the BPA ketyl radical that was formed via H-abstraction of the triplet n, pi* from alcohol and phenol. The photophysical and photochemical properties of BPA similar to those of benzophenone may encourage photochemists to use it as an n, pi* triplet sensitizer scheduled for triplet energy-tuned experiments upon laser flash photolysis in solution. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.