Primary reactions in crystalline Rochelle salt studied by pulse radiolysis and EPR spectroscopy. The decarboxylation of the acyloxy radical ion

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Abstract
The acyloxy radical ion −O2CCHODCHODCȮ2 (I) was identified in irradiated Rochelle salt by combining the techniques of pulse radiolysis and EPR spectroscopy. This primary radical gives hyperfine couplings due to 13C, 1H, and 23Na and has a broad optical absorption band with the peak at 405 nm. It decomposes by decarboxylation in a first order decay. The half life at 22 °C is 55 ns and the activation energy for decarboxylation is 7.5 kcal mol−1. The G value for the CO2 formation is 2.7 and the extinction coefficient of I is 900M−1 cm−1. No effects of the ferroelectricity of the salt on εmaxG were found.