Mercury photosensitised excitation of SO 2. Formation of triplet states in termolecular collisions

Abstract

The 2537 Å mercury-photosensitised excitation of SO 2 has been investigated. The initial act of electronic energy transfer is to populate the coupled 1A 2, 1B 1 states of SO 2 in high yield. The quantum yields for subsequent formation of triplet states have been measured by means of energy transfer to biacetyl; the pressure dependence of the emission quantum yields is consistent with formation of triplet states, from the initially populated singlets, in termolecular collisions.