Solvent effects on the reactivity of solvated electrons with ions in isobutanol/water mixed solvents

Abstract

The effective reaction radii KRr, where Rr is the reactive encounter radius and K is the probability of reaction per encounter, for [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text], are all 0.7 ± 0.1 nm in isobutanol containing 10–20 mol% water. The value remains at 0.7 ± 0.1 nm for [Formula: see text] in pure isobutanol, and for the two transition metal ions in pure water solvent. The value for [Formula: see text] reduces to 0.35 nm in pure isobutanol and pure water solvents, whereas for [Formula: see text] in pure water solvent it is only 0.14 nm and 2.6 × 10−5 nm, respectively. The low reactivity of [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] in water is attributed to the symmetry of the hydrogen-bonded solvation structure of [Formula: see text] in water, and the higher reactivity of [Formula: see text] is attributed to the lower symmetry of its hydrogen-bonded solvation structure. The [Formula: see text] ions have no low-lying orbital for an electron to occupy, so either reaction occurs by proton transfer to the electron site or the neutral species must decompose. We suggest that the proton transfer or the decomposition of the neutral species is facilitated by an unsymmetrical solvation structure.Reaction of [Formula: see text] in Al(ClO4)3 solutions in water is due mainly to [Formula: see text] from hydrolysis of [Formula: see text] and partly to partially hydroxylated aluminum(III) species. Reaction of [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] itself appears to be negligible in water. The reactivity of the solutions of Al(ClO4)3 in isobutanol-rich solvents is 3–5 times greater than that in water.In pure C1 to C4 1-alcanol solvents the value of [Formula: see text] increases linearly with the dielectric relaxation time τ1 of the solvent. In these solvents the probability of permanent capture per encounter increases approximately as the square of the encounter duration.