Solvation plays an important role in the rates of electron transfer and has been well documented by studying the same reaction in different solvents.  In contrast to these studies, we have used reverse micelles (RMs), which contain varying amounts of water molecules, to determine the effect of changing the extent of solvation.  We have studied the electron transfer reaction between pentacyano(ligand)ferrate(III) reactions and ascorbic acid.  It was found that the reaction rates increased significantly when the size of the RMs was reduced, i.e., the number of solvent water molecules was reduced.  We have attempted to describe this enhancement in terms of solvent reorganization and changes in redox potentials.

Activation of electron transfer through confinement

246th National Meeting (2013)

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