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Singlet oxygen

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Molecular Orbital diagram for singlet oxygen. Quantum mechanics predict that this configuration with the paired electrons is unfavorable.

Singlet oxygen is a reactive oxygen species that is higher in energy than the predominant species in the atmosphere, triplet oxygen. It results from the energetically unfavorable pairing of electrons in the pi antibonding orbitals. Over time, singlet oxygen will decay into triplet oxygen, but since this process is spin-forbidden transition the excited species has a long lifetime. When singlet oxygen does fall back down to its ground state, red light is released in a instance of chemiluminescence.

Singlet oxygen can participate in Diels-Alder reactions and ene reactions. It can be generated using the sensitizers Rose Bengal or Methylene Blue, or by spontaneous decomposition of hydrogen trioxide in water. It is the active species in photodynamic therapy.

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