Laser flash photolysis study of photoionization in fluoroquinolones

A laser flash photolysis investigation was carried out on the mechanism of electron photoejection in fluoroquinolone derivatives, bearing either electron donating or electron accepting substituents in position 8, laser excited at lambda(exc) = 355 nm in neutral aqueous solutions. The dependence of the hydrated electron absorption at 720 nm on the laser intensity and on the presence of N2O as electron scavenger evidenced that in enoxacin, norfloxacin, and lomefloxacin the photoionization is predominantly two-photon. With rufloxacin, besides the two-photon process, a one photon contribution with a quantum yield of 0.034 was measured.