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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.
Radicals are highly reactive and short-lived, as they have an unpaired electron which makes them extremely unstable. Radicals often react with hydrogens attached to carbon molecules, effectively making the carbon a radical while stabilizing the former radical in a process called propagation.
In the first case, the bond is divided so that each product retains an electron and becomes a neutral radical. In the second case, both electrons of the chemical bond remain with one of the products, resulting in charged ions. Dissociation plays an important role in triggering chain reactions, such as hydrogen–oxygen or polymerization reactions.
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]
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 ...
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 sulfur radical was found to be more reactive (6*10 8 vs. 1*10 7 M −1.s −1) and less selective (selectivity ratio 76 vs 1200) than the carbon radical. In this case, the effect can be explained by extending the Bell–Evans–Polanyi principle with a factor δ {\displaystyle \delta \,} accounting for transfer of charge from the reactants ...
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.