Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Studies Of The Reorientational Relaxation Of Pyridine In Water By Depolarized Rayleigh Light Scattering, C. H. Wang, Scott L. Whittenburg, P. A. Lund, D. H. Christensen

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The depolarized Rayleigh spectra of aqueous solutions of pyridine have been studied using a high‐finesse Fabry–Perot interferometer as a function of temperature and concentration. The Rayleigh relaxation times are found to have a complex concentration and viscosity dependence. The classical Stokes–Einstein–Debye equation for molecular reorientation breaks down in this system. The Rayleigh relaxation time of pyridine molecules is not determined by the macroscopic shear viscosity of the solution. The specific interaction due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between pyridine and water molecules plays a very important role in affecting the relaxation time. At a fixed temperature the plot of …