Reactions of Porphyrins in Surfactant Assemblies, Microemulsions and in Solutions.

Abstract : Our ARO-sponsored research has focused on three different areas, all of which center around photochemical reactions occurring in microheterogeneous media. The first area of investigation has been of photoisomerizations and related processes occurring in spread monolayer films at the air-water interface as well as in supported multilayer assemblies. Our studies in this area have demonstrated that reactivity in the spread films can be profoundly different from that occuring in solution. Moreover we have been able to investigate systematically specific factors such as the effect of film compression and the presence of various liquids such as water within or in contact with the film or assembly. A number of our findings in this area have been published and more publications will result from studies not yet completed.