Thangadurai Sumitha Celin - Department of Chemistry & Research Centre, Scott Christian College (Autonomous), Nagercoil, India
George Allen Gnana Raj - Department of Chemistry & Research Centre, Scott Christian College (Autonomous), Nagercoil, India

Quinones are considered a class of organic compounds having a quinonoid group and are the ultimate electron acceptors. Due to this property, they have favourable redox potential and the ability to form stable hydrogen bonds. Luminescence quenching is one of the most important techniques used to get information regarding the structure and dynamics of a luminophore. A variety of transition metal complexes have been synthesized and studied to comprehend the quinones' electron-accepting characteristics. Among these, Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes have widespread applications in electron transfer reactions due to their well-defined photophysical and photochemical stability. The reaction of excited state Tris(۴,۴'-dimethoxy-۲,۲'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II)tetrafluoroborate [Ru(dMeObpy)۳](BF۴)۲ complex with quinones was investigated through photoinduced electron transfer reaction in homogeneous and microheterogenous medium. The luminescence quenching technique has been used to study this reaction. The complex has an absorbance maximum of ۴۴۸ nm in aqueous medium. The quenching rate constants were deduced using the Stern-Volmer equation. The interaction between the complex and the quinones in a cationic micellar medium, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), was analyzed based on electrostatic interaction and hydrophobicity. The plot between RTlnkq vs. reduction potential of the quinones, as well as the transient absorption spectra, confirmed the oxidative nature of quenching of the ruthenium complex in the presence of quinones. The quenching constant values are influenced by many factors, such as the nature of the ligand, medium, size, and structure of quenchers, and electron transfer distance between the donor and the acceptor. The formation of Ru۳+ species is confirmed by its characteristic absorption at ۶۰۰ nm.

Stern-Volmer equation, oxidative quenching, binding constant, electrostatic interaction, Surfactant