The radiation chemistry of organic amides: Pt. 1

Pulse radiolysis of four cyclic amides including N-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP), and the non-cyclic amide tetramethylurea (TMU) yielded absorption spectra in the near infrared that are attributed to solvated electrons. Addition of a variety of alkali-metal salts caused no detectable change in the absorption spectrum of es- and no new absorptions attributable to alkali-metal anions were detected. The effect of dose on the decay of es- in NMP was studied in detail. The yields of es- in these amides were estimated by using trans-stilbene as an electron scavenger. Absorption spectra, which are not removed by saturation with N2O and CO2, are observed in the wavelength range 300-500 nm. (author)