Contact charge transfer interactions between aromatic molecules and oxygen in gas matrices at 10 K

Abstract

The analysis of the absorption spectra of benzene, toluene, styrene and indene in oxygen and other gas matrixes at 10 K has provided information on the nature of the contact charge transfer interactions between these aromatic molecules and oxygen. The use of a pulsed sample deposition technique provided transparent, non-scattering matrices. The red shift noted for the contact charge transfer absorptions on going from oxygen gas to a matrix at 10 K has been attributed to molecular compression effects in the matrix, and the two absorption bands observed for styrene and indene have been attributed to transitions involving the first and second ionization potentials of these molecules. The detection of the two bands in the case of styrene rationalises an anomalous observation previously reported for oxygen charge transfer absorptions in polystyrene.