Christiana Zaharia - Concordia University

Placement: University of Waterloo
Supervisor: Dr. Monica Barra

Studies of Photoinduced Bimolecular Processes in Solid b-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes and the Decomposition of Indophenol Blue in Basic Aqueous Solutions

The first project involves the study of solid b -cyclodextrin binary complexes of 1,2-dimethoxy-4-nitrobenzene (DMNB) and ternary complexes of 1,2-dimethoxy-4-nitrobenzene and 1-phenylethylamine (PhEA) by means of laser flash photolysis techniques. Different ratios of DMNB and PhEA have been used in order to see if there is any correlation between the amount of amine and the behavior of the various transients. Laser irradiation of the ternary complexes enables the electron transfer from 1-phenylethylamine to the triplet excited state of 1,2-dimethoxy-4-nitrobenzene and generates an ion pair. Lifetime distribution analyses have been used to study the decay of the different transients resulting from laser excitation of the ternary complexes. Two or three major decay modes were observed.

The second project focuses on the hydrolytic decomposition of indophenol blue, an imine dye, in basic solutions at pH's ranging from 12 to 13. This project has been carried out by means of kinetic and product studies. A comparison between the behavior of indophenol blue and other similar dyes in basic solutions, and the effect of p-sulfonated calix[n]arenes on the hydrolysis have also been carried out.