The utilization of visible light to mediate chemical reactions in fluid solutions has applications that range from solar fuel production to medicine and organic synthesis. These reactions are typically initiated by electron transfer between a photoexcited dye molecule (a photosensitizer) and a redox-active quencher to yield radical pairs that are intimately associated within a solvent cage. Many of these radicals undergo rapid thermodynamically favored “geminate” recombination and do not diffuse out of the solvent cage that surrounds them. Those that do escape the cage are useful reagents that may undergo subsequent reactions important to the above-mentioned applications. The cage escape process and the factors that determine the yields remain poorly understood despite decades of research motivated by their practical and fundamental importance. Herein, state-of-the-art research on light-induced electron transfer and cage escape that has appeared since the seminal 1972 review by J. P. Lorand entitled “The Cage Effect” is reviewed. This review also provides some background for those new to the field and discusses the cage escape process of both homolytic bond photodissociation and bimolecular light induced electron transfer reactions. The review concludes with some key goals and directions for future research that promise to elevate this very vibrant field to even greater heights.

中文翻译：

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影响光化学笼逃逸率的因素

利用可见光来介导流体溶液中的化学反应，其应用范围从太阳能燃料生产到医药和有机合成。这些反应通常由光激发染料分子（光敏剂）和氧化还原活性猝灭剂之间的电子转移引发，以产生在溶剂笼内紧密结合的自由基对。许多这些自由基经历了热力学有利的快速“成对”重组，并且不会扩散出它们周围的溶剂笼。那些确实逃出笼子的试剂是有用的试剂，它们可能会经历对上述应用重要的后续反应。尽管由于其实际和根本重要性而进行了数十年的研究，但笼子逃逸过程和决定产量的因素仍然知之甚少。本文回顾了自 1972 年 JP Lorand 题为“笼效应”的开创性评论以来出现的关于光诱导电子转移和笼逃逸的最先进研究。这篇综述还为该领域的新手提供了一些背景知识，并讨论了均裂键光解和双分子光诱导电子转移反应的笼逃逸过程。该评论最后提出了未来研究的一些关键目标和方向，这些目标和方向有望将这个充满活力的领域提升到更高的高度。