A fotopolimerização de THF foi estudada na presença de sal de trifenilsulfônio e perileno. O mecanismo envolve uma transferência de elétron do estado singlete excitado do perileno para os íons trifenilsulfônio, levando à formação de cátions radicais, que reagem com o tetrahidrofurano. O rendimento aparente de cátions radicais calculado do mecanismo proposto tem o mesmo comportamento geral que as velocidades de polimerização medidas experimentalmente.

The photopolymerization of THF was studied in the presence of a triphenylsulphonium salt and perylene. The mechanism involves an electron transfer from the excited singlet state of perylene to triphenylsulphonium ions, resulting in perylene cation radicals that react with tetrahydrofuran. The calculated apparent yield of cation radicals follows the same general trend than the measured polymerization rates.

The initiation step of the light-induced polymerization kinetics of vinyl monomers using dye-sensitized photoinitiators to generate active radicals is discussed. The photoredox processes of basic dyes with amines and sulfinates are described as photochemical systems capable of starting free-radical polymerization of vinyl monomers in homogeneous and microheterogeneous media. Photophysical techniques like laser flash photolysis and time-correlated single photon counting are used to investigate the excited-state kinetics of the dyes.