Transient phenomena in the pulse radiolysis of retinyl polyenes. 4. Association of radical cations with parent molecules

At relatively high concentrations (1-10 mM) in O/sub 2/-saturated acetone, pulse radiolysis of all-trans-retinal, -retinoic acid, and -methyl retinoate gives rise to fast transient absorption processes that are best explained in terms of association of radical cations with parent polyenes to form dimers. From the concentration dependence of initial decay/formation kinetics, equilibrium constants (K) for monomer/dimer interconversion are measured to be 220-440 M/sup -1/ (in acetone). On going from acetone to 1,2-dichloroethane, K values for retinal and retinoic acid increase almost by an order of magnitude. For all trans-retinol and retinyl acetate, radical cation dimer formation appears to be negligible in the concentration range 1-10 mM of the polyene substrates (based on the lack of transient absorption changes seen with retinal and retinoic acid/ester). 24 references, 6 figures, 1 table.