Radical recombination in ultrahigh magnetic fields

The effect of ultrahigh magnetic field (UMF; tens of Tesla) on the recombination kinetics of short-lived radicals in the liquid phase is studied. The influence of the well-known radical-pair mechanism of the magnetic field effect (MFE) in radical chemical reactions and the mechanism of equilibrium thermodynamic alignment of spins of the unpaired electrons of the radicals in UMF on the rate of spin-selective radical recombination is considered. For both mechanisms, the recombination rate constants were calculated using the theory of diffusion-controlled reactions in solution. The contributions of the two mechanisms to the experimentally observed MFE in the recombination of NO• radical and the superoxide radical anion affording peroxynitrite in 18 T magnetic field are estimated.