Studies of photolytic reactions at radio frequencies

The general object of the work was the detection and measurement of electrical effects induced in solutions by irradiation from short duration gaseous discharges. for this work a medium intensity gaseous discharge lamp and several novel conductance cells were constructed. Some new experimental techniques were investigated and their application to certain photolytic reactions studies. The techniques employed included the measurement of Radio Frequency Conductance and Capacitance and the recording of small changes in these factors over periods ranging from hours to 10[-4] seconds. The photolytic reactions chosen for study involved heterolytic fission, homolytic fission, free radical decomposition and geometric rearrangement, and in each case an attempt was made to record the electrical changes occurring with both time and irradiation. A discussion is included on difficulties encountered in these measurements and on the general interpretation of Radio frequency conductance values. A new method for the preparation of the trans-isomer of the benzene diazocyanides and a possible new method for the molecular weight estimation of conjugated polymers were evolved. Incidental to the general work, the spectra of some thiourea complexes and two organic free radicals are recorded.