Photobleaching mechanisms of Radachlorin photosensitizer in aqueous solution

The time dependence of the fluorescence intensity of aqueous solutions of Radachlorin photosensitizer at different concentrations and the influence of the dissolved oxygen concentration on the fluorescence dynamics are analyzed. The experimental results are interpreted based on the numerical solution of the system of kinetic equations describing the photochemical processes that lead to the formation and degradation of singlet oxygen in solution. The influence of possible mechanisms of photosensitizer photobleaching is analyzed. It is shown that the main photobleaching mechanism under our experimental conditions is the chemical reaction between the photosensitizer in the triplet state and dissolved oxygen molecules. Two rate constants of electron-transfer chemical reactions, which are important for understanding the nature of the occurring photoprocesses, are determined.