Photoinduced electron transfer reaction in room temperature ionic liquids: A combined laser flash photolysis and fluorescence study

A detailed study of the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) reaction between pyrene and N,N-dimethylaniline has been made in four different room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) using steady state and time-resolved fluorescence and laser flash photolysis techniques. Unlike that in the conventional media, no exciplex emission for this well-known system could be observed in ILs. The rate constants for the PET induced quenching of the fluorescent state of pyrene, which lie between 6.9 and 37 x 10(7) M-1 s(-1) depending on the viscosity, are found to be 2-4 times higher than the diffusion-controlled rates in ILs. The primary photoproducts of the PET process have been characterized by transient absorption spectroscopy, and the yields of the solvent-separated PET products have been determined. Even in the least viscous IL, [emim][Tf2N], the yield of the solvent-separated radical ion is estimated to be only 0.015 +/- 0.005. In more viscous ILs such as [bmim][PF6], the yield is found to be so low that absorption due to these species could not be observed. The rate constant for the escape of the ionic products from the geminate ion pair in ILs has been estimated to be nearly 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than the back electron transfer rate. However, the small fraction of the PET products, which manage to escape geminate recombination, have been found to survive much longer compared to those in less viscous conventional solvents.