Abstract
IF equal amounts of trinitrobenzene and a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon are dissolved in chloroform and the solution is dried off on to filter paper, a colour often appears due to the formation of a charge-transfer complex. The new absorption bears no relation to that of either of the components separately, and may be almost anywhere in the spectrum depending on the hydrocarbon. It is generally believed that negative charge is transferred from the hydrocarbon, acting as donor, to the trinitrobenzene, acting as acceptor. Other kinds of donor and acceptor are known1, and a theory of such complexes, base on molecular orbitals, has been given by Mulliken2.
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References
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Szent-Gyorgyi, A., and McLaughin, J., Proc. U.S. Nat. Acad. Sci., 47, 1397 (1961).
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NASH, T., ALLISON, A. Hydrogen Bonding and Charge-Transfer Complexes. Nature 195, 994 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/195994a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/195994a0
