An investigation of isotropic and anisotropic magnetic field effects in fluorescent systems

Thesis

Interest into the effects of weak static magnetic fields on chemical reactions involving spin correlated radical pairs has increased over the last few decades, particularly as scientists have become more curious about the mechanisms by which animals can sense and respond to small variations in the Earth's weak (50 µT) magnetic field. The magnetosensitivity of radical pairs, as dictated by the radical pair mechanism, lies at the heart of the most heavily supported hypothesis of this magnetoreception phenomenon.

This thesis is concerned with the spectroscopic investigations of isotropic and anisotropic magnetic field effects in fluorescent systems. First of all, an introduction to spin chemistry and magnetoreception is presented. In chapter 3, the effects of weak radiofrequency oscillating fields when applied in combination with weak static fields are explored in isotropic solutions. The validity of the high-field model, typically used to describe spin dynamics in magnetic resonance, is tested and the effects of orientation and field strength on magnetic field effects are discussed in detail.

In Chapter 4, a range of exciplex systems are studied by fluorescence methods and their energetics are explored. The factors which determine the formation of an exciplex, i.e. the complex equilibrium between the exciplex and the spin-correlated radical pair,are considered and used to assess the existence and magnitude of MFEs.

Radical pair systems investigated, using MARY spectroscopy, with respect to their potential to act as model chemical compasses are introduced in chapter 5. Solid-state media are used to align the exciplex systems to detect any magnetic field direction dependence. Finally, in chapter 6, AMELIA, an experiment which can directly measure the anisotropic magnetic field response of a system, is presented and applied successfully to systems to detect directly the anisotropic field response of a photoexcited anthracene crystal.

Authors: Ferguson, K

• Publication date: 2014
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-jxvrvqaax
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: pyrene; anisotropic; dicyanobenzene; fluorescent; anthracene; isotropic; magnetic field effects
• Subjects: Chemistry & allied sciences