Associated electron and proton transfer between Acridine and Triethylamine in AOT reverse micelles probed by laser flash photolysis with magnetic field

Laser flash photolysis with magnetic field (MF ∼0.08 T) has been used to study interaction between Acridine (Acr) and Triethylamine (TEA) in reverse micelles with w0 = 2.5–40. Dynamic protonation equilibrium exists between 3Acr and 3AcrH+. The intermediates indicate excited-state proton transfer (PT) between 3AcrH+ and TEA. However, application of MF highlights the formation of geminate radical ion pairs (RIPs) with triplet spin-correlation, a signature of latent photoinduced electron transfer between 3AcrH+ and TEA co-exists with PT. Magnetic field effect (MFE) is prominent for smaller w0 showing importance of optimum separation between RIP to maximize MFE, whereas PT remains unaltered.