The Construction and Testing of a System for Flash Photochemical Studies of Organotransition Metal Compounds

The main objective of my research efforts was to construct a flash photolysis system which would enable one to carry out time-resolved studies of photoinitiated reactions of organometallic hydrides. Such a development involved two major tasks. First, it required establishing a functioning vacuum line. Organometallic complexes are extremely sensitive to oxygen and water. Therefore these contaminants must be removed if one is to have any success in studying their reactions. A vacuum line is the most efficient means for degassing both solvent and solute Second, it involved modifying our flash photolysis apparatus. Changes in the flash rig included upgrading the micropulser from 100 to 400 joules, modifying the design of the flash housing and incorporating an amplifier circuit into the detector system. Before embarking on original research, we felt it was necessary to test the effectiveness of our newly modified equipment. Therefore, we sought to reproduce the findings of other flash photolysis investigations. Replication of the literature would be a good indication of a properly functioning system