Advances in exploration of photoinduced electron transfer reactions involving small molecules probed by magnetic field effect

The review focuses on photoinduced electron transfer (PET) reactions between small molecules and various kinds of chemical and biological systems using a weak external magnetic field (MF). Laser flash photolysis is a competent tool to characterize the intermediates which are formed due to PET. A weak MF, very close to the hyperfine interaction of the system, has the potential to inhibit or enhance reaction channels for singlet and triplet states, which eventually effects the product distribution. At first, well-documented examples of PET involving small molecules like derivatives of phenazines, carbazoles and acridines with classical electron donors in varying homogeneous and heterogeneous media have been discussed and the influence of a weak MF on the dynamics of PET is highlighted. Secondly, utilization of magnetic field effect (MFE) to probe PET in protein pockets has been described. Thirdly, an extensive discussion on PET involving nucleobases, nucleosides, nucleotides and nucleic acids and subsequent MFE on such reactions has been reported. Next, MFE has been exploited to study PET involving nanomaterials. Finally, some very recent studies of MFE have been discussed. Thus, this review is an attempt to unravel various aspects of PET in a large number of systems of varying dimensions by means of several facets of MFE like B_1/2 parameter, its capability to authenticate the initial spin state and distance dependence property.