THE INTERACTION OF THE EXCITED-STATES OF SAFRANINE-T WITH ALIPHATIC-AMINES IN ORGANIC-SOLVENTS

The reactions of the excited states of safranine T with aliphatic amin es have been studied in methanol and acetonitrile. Quenching of the si nglet and triplet states occurs by different mechanisms. Whereas the f ormer excited state is quenched by a charge-transfer mechanism, the tr iplet state is quenched through proton transfer from the excited dye t o the amine. This process leads to the unprotonated form of the dye in the triplet state, which is later quenched by amines to form the corr esponding semireduced species. The monoprotonated triplet also undergo es self-quenching in both solvents (k = 1.2 X 10(8) M(-1) s(-1)).