Detection of transient species by measurement of dielectric loss

This communication pointed out that the absorption of microwave energy to detect ions in gas, liquid and solid phases and to measure certain of their properties and reaction kinetics is not limited to the detection of ions and that other chemical changes such as those giving rise to changes in molecular dipole moment will also affect the absorption of microwaves. The microwave circuit of an ESR spectrometer was used for the experiment. The system studied was 2mM duroquinone (DQ) and 1mM of the corresponding hydroquinone (H2DQ) in cyclohexane. The results show that dielectric loss measurements can be made on transients for both kinetic and structural studies. 1 figure