DPPH

Most radicals are transient species. They (e.%. 1-10) decay by self-reaction with rates at or close to the diffusion-controlled limit (Section 1.4). This situation also pertains in conventional radical polymerization. Certain radicals, however, have thermodynamic stability, kinetic stability (persistence) or both that is conferred by appropriate substitution. Some well-known examples of stable radicals are diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH), nitroxides such as 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-A -oxyl (TEMPO), triphenylniethyl radical (13) and galvinoxyl (14). Some examples of carbon-centered radicals which are persistent but which do not have intrinsic thermodynamic stability are shown in Section 1.4.3.2. These radicals (DPPH, TEMPO, 13, 14) are comparatively stable in isolation as solids or in solution and either do not react or react very slowly with compounds usually thought of as substrates for radical reactions. They may, nonetheless, react with less stable radicals at close to diffusion controlled rates. In polymer synthesis these species find use as inhibitors (to stabilize monomers against polymerization or to quench radical reactions - Section 5,3.1) and as reversible termination agents (in living radical polymerization - Section 9.3). 

Examples of radicals which are reported to meet these criteria are diphenylpicrylhydrazyl [DPPH, (22)], Koelsch radical (26), nitroxides [e.g. TEMPO (23), Fremy s Salt (24)], triphenylmethyl (25), galvinoxyl (27), and verdazyl radicals [e.g. triphenylverdazyl (28)]. These reagents have seen practical application in a number of contexts. They have been widely utilized in the determination of initiator efficiency (Section 3.3.1.1.3) and in mechanistic investigations (Section 3.5.2). 

Stable radicals can show selectivity for particular radicals. For example, nitroxides do not trap oxygcn-ecntcrcd radicals yet react with carbon-ccntcrcd radicals by coupling at or near diffusion controlled rates.179,184 This capability was utilized by Rizzardo and Solomon181 to develop a technique for characterizing radical reactions and has been extensively used in the examination of initiation of radical polymerization (Section 3.5.2.4). In contrast DPPH, w hile an efficient... 

The efficiency of these inhibitors may depend on reaction conditions. For example the reaction of radicals with stable radicals (e.g. nitroxides) may be reversible at elevated temperatures (Section 7.5.3) triphenylmethyl may initiate polymerizations (Section 7.5.2). A further complication is that the products may be capable of undergoing further radical chemistry. In the case of DPPH (22) this is attributed to the fact that the product is an aromatic nitro-compound (Section 5.3.7). Certain adducts may undergo induced decomposition to form a stable radical which can then scavenge further. 

Well before the advent of modern analytical instruments, it was demonstrated by chemical techniques that shear-induced polymer degradation occurred by homoly-tic bond scission. The presence of free radicals was detected photometrically after chemical reaction with a strong UV-absorbing radical scavenger like DPPH, or by analysis of the stable products formed from subsequent reactions of the generated radicals. The apparition of time-resolved ESR spectroscopy in the 1950s permitted identification of the structure of the macroradicals and elucidation of the kinetics and mechanisms of its formation and decay [15]. 

In this contribution it is shown that local density functional (LDF) theory accurately predicts structural and electronic properties of metallic systems (such as W and its (001) surface) and covalently bonded systems (such as graphite and the ethylene and fluorine molecules). Furthermore, electron density related quantities such as the spin density compare excellently with experiment as illustrated for the di-phenyl-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical. Finally, the capabilities of this approach are demonstrated for the bonding of Cu and Ag on a Si(lll) surface as related to their catalytic activities. Thus, LDF theory provides a unified approach to the electronic structures of metals, covalendy bonded molecules, as well as semiconductor surfaces. 

Fig.4 Spin density in the DPPH molecule projected onto a plane containing the two N-atoms of the hydrazyl group. Densities are given in units of e/X negative spin densities are indicated by broken lines.

We have shown that local density functional (LDF) theory provides a methodology that allows a unified theoretical/computational study of such diverse systems as bulk W and its surface, graphite, the ethylene, fluorine, and DPPH... 

The calculation of the spin density in the DPPH radical demonstrates that quantities related to the charge distribution of electrons are very well described by this approach. The spin-density is a particularly sensitive test as it is the difference of two large quantities, namely the electron densities of each spin system. 

The ability of the stable free radical diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) to act as an efficient trap for reactive radicals such as 804 and OH- has been utilised by Bawn and Margerison in their examination of the Ag -S20g couple. The disappearance of the intensely coloured DPPH gave excellent zero-order kinetics the rate as a whole was identical with that found by Fronaeus and Ostman and 2 was given by 3.1 x 10 exp(—17.9x lO /RT) l.mole sec A Sengar and Gupta have also determined Arrhenius parameters for this reduction and have compared them with those for some redox processes (Table 23). 

Bawn and Margerison have observed cupric ion catalysis of the persul-phate-DPPH reaction although the effect is smaller than that with Ag. The kinetics are complex and few details are given. 

The reductions by DPPH of intermediates generated by the Ag(I)- and Cu(ll)-persulphate couples are dealt with in section 6.4.7. 

DPPH can also function as an oxidant towards Fe(II) in ethanolic solution , viz. 

The reduction of the stable 1,1 -diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) has been used to assess the efficiency of antioxidants in beverages (Larrauri et al, 1999 Porto et al, 2000), vegetable oils (Espin et al, 2000) and of pure phenolic compounds (Madsen et al, 2000), reaction [16.17] ... 

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