Electron solvation processes in alcohol-hydrocarbon mixtures

Abstract

The solvated electron has been investigated in mixtures of polar and non-polar liquids (methanol, ethanol, propanol, and isopropyl alcohol respectively in hexane) by pulse-radiolysis. The respective yields and transition energies of the electron in the mixtures do not show the same dielectric dependence as has been established for pure liquids. The relative number of electrons escaping geminate recombination increases with an increase in the alcohol concentration but the mechanisms of optical transition and electron decay remain unchanged. Infrared spectroscopic studies have shown that electron stabilization is related to the existence of quasi-stable associated alcohol complexes. For ethanol, an observed decrease in the solvated free electron yield with an increase in temperature is in accord with a shift in associative equilibrium.