Literature survey of the aqueous chemistry of technetium related to photolysis

A literature survey was made to accumulate information about the chemistry of technetium as it relates to photolysis. The electrochemical potentials and the reactions of the various technetium compounds and complexes are discussed, along with the various absorption spectra of the different species. The TcCl62- ion has been shown to be photochemically active in HCl solutions. Hexachlorotechnetate(IV) is oxidized when exposed to sunlight in concentrated HCl. A ligand change occurs when it is exposed to either 254- or 34-nm radiation in more dilute HCl. No other photolysis reactions were found in the literature. It is possible that, under appropriate conditions, other valence states of technetium would be photochemically active, resulting in either redox or ligand exchange reactions. Proposals for investigating the photochemical reduction of the pertechnetate in HNO3 and other media are discussed