Charge-transfer-to-solvent (CTTS) reactions of hydroxide induced by 200 nm monophotonic or 337 nm and 389 nm biphotonic excitation of this anion in aqueous solution have been studied by means of pump-probe ultrafast laser spectroscopy. Transient absorption kinetics of the hydrated electron, e aq -, have been observed, from a few hundred femtoseconds out to 600 ps, and studied as function of hydroxide concentration and temperature. The geminate decay kinetics are bimodal, with a fast exponential component (ca. 13 ps) and a slower power "tail" due to the diffusional escape of the electrons. For the biphotonic excitation, the extrapolated fraction of escaped electrons is 1.8 times higher than for the monophotonic 200 nm excitation (31% vs. 17.5% at 25 o C, respectively), due to the broadening of the electron distribution. The biphotonic electron detachment is very inefficient; the corresponding absorption coefficient at 400 nm is < 4 cm TW -1 M -1 (assuming unity quantum efficiency for the photodetachment).

Photostimulated electron detachment from aqueous inorganic anions is the simplest example of solvent-mediated electron transfer. As such, this photoreaction became the subject of many ultrafast studies. Most of these studied focussed on the behavior of halide anions, in particular, iodide, that is readily accessible in the UV. In this study, we contrast the behavior of these halide anions with that of small polyatomic anions, such as pseudohalide anions (e.g., HS -) and common polyvalent anions (e.g., kinetics. These analyses suggest that for polyatomic anions (including all polyvalent anions studied) the initial electron distribution has a broad component, even at relatively low photoexcitation energy. There seem to be no well-defined threshold energy below which the broadening of the distribution does not occur, as is the case for halide anions.Direct ionization to the conduction band of water is the most likely photoprocess broadening the electron distribution. The constancy of (near-unity) prompt quantum yields vs. the excitation energy as the latter is scanned across the lowest charge-transferto-solvent band of the anion is observed for halide anions and Fe(CN) 6 4-but not for other anions: the prompt quantum yields are considerably less than unity and depend strongly on the excitation energy. Our study suggests that halide anions are in the class of their own; photodetachment from polyatomic, especially polyvalent, anions follows a different set of rules.

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In concentrated solutions of NaClO 4 and Na 2 SO 4 , the quantum yield for free electron generated by detachment from photoexcited anions (such as I -, OH -, ClO 4 -, and SO 3 2-) linearly decreases by 6-12% per 1 M ionic strength. In 9 M sodium perchlorate solution, this quantum yield decreases by roughly 1 order of magnitude. Ultrafast kinetic studies of 200 nm photon induced electron detachment from Br -, HO -, and SO 3 2-and 228 nm photodetachment from I -suggest that the yield of thermalized, solvated electron does not change in these solutions; rather, the ionic strength effect originates in more efficient recombination of geminate pairs. Within the framework of the recently proposed mean force potential (MFP) model of charge separation dynamics in such photosystems, the observed changes are interpreted as an increase in the short-range attractive potential between the geminate partners. Association of sodium cation(s) with the electron and the parent anion is suggested as the most likely cause for the observed modification of the MFP. Electron thermalization kinetics suggest that the cation associated with the parent anion (by ion pairing and/or ionic atmosphere interaction) is passed to the detached electron in the course of the photoreaction. The precise atomic-level mechanism for the ionic strength effect is presently unclear; any further advance is likely to require the development of an adequate quantum molecular dynamics model.

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