Photooxidation of olefins sensitized by bisazafullerene (C(59)N)(2) and hydroazafullerene C(59)HN: product analysis, emission of singlet oxygen, and transient absorption spectroscopy.

The photooxidation reactions of olefins sensitized by the excited triplet states of bisazafullerene (C(59)N)(2) and hydroazafullerene C(59)HN have been studied. Oxidation yields were compared with those of pristine C(60). The singlet oxygen yields are also determined directly from the emission intensities, which are in good agreement with the oxidation yields. The triplet states of (C(59)N)(2) and C(59)HN have been identified by the time-resolved spectroscopic method by observing the triplet-triplet absorption spectra, which decay in the presence of oxygen. It has been proven that (C(59)N)(2) and C(59)HN have the ability to sensitize the reactions via singlet oxygen in about half of the efficiency of that of pristine C(60). For both azafullerenes, the triplet lifetimes are shorter than that of pristine C(60), which may be related to the nitrogen atom embedded in the C(60) moiety.