Abstract

Measurement of rotational diffusion of molecules in liquid solutions is a sensitive probe of molecular friction. This friction can arise from a variety of physical processes, including solvent displacement, dielectric interactions, and specific solute/solvent interactions. It is often difficult to disentangle the relative contributions of these interactions since in general they are present together. Our goal is to isolate and evaluate these contributions by studying a set of probe molecules in which they can be varied independently.

© 1990 Optical Society of America