Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.110, No.4, 2164-2174, 1999
Excited-state reversible geminate reaction. I. Two different lifetimes
We obtain an accurate long-time solution for the diffusive kinetics of an excited geminate pair dissociating reversibly in solution, where the excited-state lifetimes of the bound and unbound states may be nonequal. We analyze the long-time asymptotic behavior, finding a transition between two types of behaviors. In region A, the excited bound pair decays as t(-3/2) exp(-t/tau(0)'), where tau(0)' is the lifetime of the unbound state. In region AB, the decay is a pure exponential. At the critical value of the parameters where the transition occurs, we find a t(-1/2) exp(-t/tau(0)') decay. These predictions are tested against an exact numerical solution of the corresponding coupled partial differential equations. For region A, we supply an experimental example involving time-resolved excited-state proton transfer from 5-cyano-2-naphthol to dimethyl sulfoxide.
Keywords:LONG-TIME BEHAVIOR;MONOMER EXCIMER KINETICS;DIFFUSION-INFLUENCED REACTIONS;PROTON-TRANSFER REACTIONS;SYMMETRICALDIFFUSION;ASYMPTOTIC RELAXATION;BIMOLECULAR REACTIONS;ARROW-C;RECOMBINATION;BINDING