Radiolysis of pyrimidines in aqueous solutions. Part 3.—Micellar effects on product yields formed in the interaction of e –aq, ·H, ·OH and Cl –2 with thymine and uracil

Abstract

Micellar surfactants decrease the yield of products formed in the interaction of e^–_aq, ·H, ·OH and Cl^–₂ with uracil and thymine far in excess of the decrease expected on the basis of simple competition of these species for the pyrimidines and the surfactants. Additionally, in the presence of micelles percentages of some of the radiolytic products of thymine, particularly the dimers, decrease at the expense of the glycols. Effects on uracil are smaller than those on thymine. These results are explicable in terms of interactions between the product-forming intermediate species with the micelles and the significance of this behaviour is discussed.