Magnetic isotope effect in the photolysis of organotin compounds

Abstract

Photolysis of organotin molecules RSnMe3 is shown to be a spin selective radical reaction accompanied by fractionation of magnetic, 117,119Sn, and nonmagnetic, 118,120Sn, isotopes between starting reagents and products. A primary photolysis process is a homolytic cleavage of the C-Sn bond and generation of a triplet radical pair as a spin-selective nanoreactor. Nuclear spin dependent triplet-singlet conversion of the pair results in the tin isotope fractionation. Experimentally detected isotope distribution unambiguously demonstrates that the classical, mass-dependent isotope effect is negligible in comparison with magnetic, spin-dependent isotope effect. © 2006 American Chemical Society.