Broadly defined, Spin Chemistry deals with the effects of electron and nuclear spins in particular, and magnetic interactions in general, on the rates and yields of chemical reactions. It is manifested as spin polarization in EPR and NMR spectra and the magnetic field dependence of chemical processes. Applications include studies of the mechanisms and kinetics of free radical and biradical reactions in solution, the energetics of photosynthetic electron transfer reactions, and various magnetokinetic effects, including possible biological effects of extremely low frequency and radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, the mechanisms by which animals can sense the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation and navigation, and the possibility of manipulating radical lifetimes so as to control the outcome of their reactions.
Some Spin Chemistry reviews:
Magnetic field effects in chemical kinetics and related phenomena, U. E. Steiner and T. Ulrich, Chem. Rev. 89 (1989) 51-147. Reprint download Reprint request
Radical pairs in solution, J. R. Woodward, Prog. React. Kinet. Mech. 27 (2002) 165-207. Reprint request
Effects of high magnetic fields on photochemical reactions, Y. Tanimoto and Y. Fujiwara, in Handbook of Photochemistry and Photobiology, Vol. 1: Inorganic Photochemistry, H. S. Nalwa (Ed.), American Scientific Publishers, California, 2003, p. 413. Reprint request
A study of spin chemistry in weak magnetic fields, C. R. Timmel and K. B. Henbest, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, A 362 (2004) 2573-2589. Reprint request
Quantum beats in radical pairs, V.A. Bagryansky, V.I. Borovkov and Yu. N. Molin, Russ. Chem. Rev. 76 (2007) 493-506. Reprint request
Magnetic field effects in chemical systems, C. T. Rodgers, Pure Appl. Chem. 81 (2009) 19-43. Reprint download
Chemical magnetoreception in birds: the radical pair mechanism, C. T. Rodgers and P. J. Hore, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 106 (2009) 353-360. Reprint request
Time-resolved studies of radical pairs, J. R. Woodward, T. J. Foster, A. R. Jones, A. T. Salaoru and N. S. Scrutton, Biochem. Soc. Trans. 37 (2009) 358–362. Reprint request