Bis(acetylacetonato)copper(II), Cu(acac)2, quenches triplet excited states of ketones and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons efficiently, but only aromatic ketones with high triplet energy successfully sensitize photoreduction of Cu(acac)2 in alcohols under nitrogen to give derivatives of aeetylacetonatocopper(I), Cu(acac). For the triplet state benzophenone-sensitized photoreduction of Cu(acac)2, the quantum yields of photoreduction (ΦC) and those of benzophenone disappearance (ΦB) were determined in methanol with various concentrations of Cu(acac)2. The values of the quenching rate constant, kq, determined from these two types of monitors on the basis of the proposed mechanism were in good agreement (6.89 ~ 7.35 × 109 M−1 s−1). This value was higher, by a factor of about two, than that obtained from the monitor of the benzophenone triplet decay rates generated by flash photolysis in the presence of Cu(acac)2. The quenching rate constants of various aromatic ketone and hydrocarbon triplet states by Cu(acac)2 were determined by flash photolysis to be in the order of the diffusion rate constant and the quantum yields of these photoreductions were found to be far from unity. Paramagnetic quenching, with contributions of electron exchange and charge transfer, was proposed as a possible quenching mechanism. For a series of aromatic ketone sensitizers with higher triplet energy, this mechanism was used to rationalize the observed high quenching rate constants in contrast to the low quantum yields of photoreduction.
