The detection sensitivity of commonly used singlet oxygen probes in aqueous environments

The sensitivity for singlet oxygen (1O2) of two convenient 1O2 probes, 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF) and 9,10-Anthracenediyl-bis(methylene)dimalonic acid (ABDA), has been investigated in different aqueous environments. Both probes are commercially available at reasonable cost and can be used with standard UV–vis spectrometers. Although DPBF is not soluble in neat water and is not specific to the detection of 1O2, it has very high, essentially diffusion-limited, reactivity towards 1O2; it can trap up to 50% of all 1O2 created in alcohol/water or micellar solution, and even more when replacing H2O by D2O, which makes it highly useful when the process under investigation does not yield much 1O2. On the other…

• UO
  University of Liverpool