Can excited decatungstate abstract hydrogen from water? New results and thoughts on this unusual reaction

Abstract

Excited decatungstate (DT) abstracts hydrogen atoms from water with a quantum yield of ∼0.01 which means only 1 out of 100 photons absorbed yields hydroxyl radicals. This was calculated using laser flash photolysis. Our results exclude the triplet state of DT as a viable pathway for hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) due to its insufficient energy, but rather HAT is mediated by a higher electronic state, likely a singlet with charge transfer characteristics. We also approximate the BDE of O–H in DTH· using the thermodynamic data available.