Formation of free radicals in photoirradiated cellulose. VII. Radical decay

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Abstract
The ESR spectra of untreated and photosensitized celluloses irradiated with three different ultraviolet light sources, i.e., λ > 2537 Å, λ > 2800 Å, λ > 3400 Å, at 77°K under vacuum were studied. Based on the warm‐up process, that is, warming the sample from 77°K to 273°K for a certain time and recorded at 77°K, the decay behavior of free radicals of celluloses was examined for changes of the pattern and the intensities of ESR spectra. For the untreated samples irradiated with light of λ > 2537 Å and λ > 2800 Å, beside the two doublet spectra originating from hydrogen atoms (508 gauss splitting) and formyl radicals (129 gauss splitting), the observed sevenline spectrum was resolved to be a superposition of a singlet (ΔHmsl = 16 gauss), a doublet (24 gauss splitting), a triplet (34 gauss splitting), and a quartet (overall width, 88 gauss) spectrum. For the photosensitized samples irradiated with light of λ > 3400 Å, the 1:1:1 three‐line spectrum was resolved to be a superposition of a singlet (ΔHmsl = 27 gauss), a doublet (43 gauss splitting), and a triplet (34 gauss splitting) spectrum. The five‐line spectra of the photosensitized samples irradiated with light of λ > 2537 Å and λ > 2800 Å were resolved to be a superposition of a singlet (ΔHmsl = 27 gauss), a doublet (43 gauss splitting), and a triplet (34 gauss splitting) spectrum. Based on these findings, the conclusion was drawn that at least six kinds of spectra, generated from six kinds of radical species, were formed in cellulose irradiated with ultraviolet light under appropriate experimental conditions.