Bibang R, Arnaud R, Lemaire J, Deflandre A, Lang G
Laboratoire de Photochimie Moléculaire et Macro-moléculaire (Unité Associée au C.N.R.S. N. 433), Université de Clermont II, Aubière, France.
Pigment Cell Res. 1989 Sep-Oct;2(5):387-94. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0749.1989.tb00226.x.
KBr matrices appear to be convenient media to reveal the radicals formed on light exposure of eumelanin dispersions. The ESR signal of eumelanin dispersed at low concentration in KBr pellets is analyzed during and after irradiation at various wavelengths. Different types of radicals are observed. R'1- and R1-types of radicals are assigned, respectively, to neutral and deprotonated intrinsic phenoxy radicals of eumelanin. R'1 can be oxidized by oxygen as opposite to R1. R2- and R'2-types are formed in the indolic site. Water favours the conversion of R2, unreactive with oxygen, into R'2 which can be oxidized. R'1 and R2 result of an electron photoejection, respectively, from the phenolic and the indolic site. The R3-type radicals are associated with the band-to-band excitation of eumelanin considered as a semiorganized solid.
