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In chemistry, a radical, also known as a free radical, is an atom, molecule, or ion that has at least one unpaired valence electron. [1] [2] With some exceptions, these unpaired electrons make radicals highly chemically reactive. Many radicals spontaneously dimerize. Most organic radicals have short lifetimes.
Chain propagation: A radical reacts with a non-radical to produce a new radical species; Chain termination: Two radicals react with each other to create a non-radical species; In a free-radical addition, there are two chain propagation steps. In one, the adding radical attaches to a multiply-bonded precursor to give a radical with lesser bond ...
Radiolysis of intracellular water by ionizing radiation creates peroxides, which are relatively stable precursors to hydroxyl radicals. 60%–70% of cellular DNA damage is caused by hydroxyl radicals, [3] yet hydroxyl radicals are so reactive that they can only diffuse one or two molecular diameters before reacting with cellular components.
The hydroxyl radical can damage virtually all types of macromolecules: carbohydrates, nucleic acids , lipids (lipid peroxidation) and amino acids (e.g. conversion of Phe to m-Tyrosine and o-Tyrosine). The hydroxyl radical has a very short in vivo half-life of approximately 10 −9 seconds and a high reactivity. [5]
The common mechanism is a free radical chain reaction, where the addition of oxygen gives rise to hydroperoxides and their associated peroxy radicals (ROO•). [5] Typically, an induction period is seen at the start where there is little activity; this is followed by a gradually accelerating take-up of oxygen, giving an autocatalytic reaction ...
Due to the reactive nature of radical molecules, disproportionation proceeds rapidly and requires little to no activation energy. [1] The most thoroughly studied radical disproportionation reactions have been conducted with alkyl radicals, but there are many organic molecules that can exhibit more complex, multi-step disproportionation reactions.
In fact, the rate of reaction of alkali metals (as evidenced by their reaction with water for example) is a function not only of position within the group but also of particle size. Hydrogen does not react with oxygen—even though the equilibrium constant is very large—unless a flame initiates the radical reaction, which leads to an explosion.
The final step is called termination (6,7), in which the radical recombines with another radical species. If the reaction is not terminated, but instead the radical group(s) go on to react further, the steps where new radicals are formed and then react are collectively known as propagation (4,5). This is because a new radical is created, able ...