Microenvironment effects on the kinetics of electron-transfer reactions involving dithionite ions and viologens. 2. Stabilization of ion radicals by polyelectrolytes and dimerization kinetics of dialkyl viologens

The kinetics of reduction of dialkyl viologens by sodium dithionite was previously shown to be strongly affected by the presence of polyelectrolytes such as poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSSH) or the polysoap MA-CVE (a copolymer of maleic acid and cetyl vinyl ether). These polyelectrolytes had also demonstrated their ability to stabilize the long-chain radical cations issued from the reaction. Dimerization of reduced dialkyl viologens becomes more and more pronounced, in the absence of polyelectrolytes, when the length of their alkyl chains increases