Ionic free radical

Wang W, Becker D, Sevilla MD (1993) The influence of hydration on the absolute yields of primary ionic free radicals in y-irradiated DNA at 77 K. Radiat Res 136 146-154 Wang W, Yan M, Becker D, Sevilla MD (1994) The influence of hydration on the absolute yields of primary free radicals in gamma-irradiated DNA at 77 K. II. Individual radical yields. Radiat Res 137 2-10... 

In most radiation chemical systems it is likely that reactions of ionic, free radical and excited species are important. One of the outstanding problems of radiation chemistry is to separate the relative importance of the reactions of each of these species. In this section the evidence for the existence of each of these species will be considered separately. 

Smith, W. B., Branum, G. D. The abnormal Finkelstein reaction. A sequential ionic-free radical reaction mechanism. Tetrahedron Lett. 1981,22, 2055-2058. 

The sulfate radical ions generated from persulfate react with the dissolved monomer molecules in the aqueous phase to form ionic free radicals... 

Because of the presence of a long hydrocarbon chain carrying an ionic charge at one end, these ionic free radicals will have surface active properties. These soaplike anionic free radicals (represented in Fig. 6.17 as A— )... 

The reaction of ozone with saturated hydrocarbons has been a subject of renewed interest in recent years. Two papers in this section are concerned with this subject, while a third deals with the analogous reaction of organosilicon compounds. These studies are of both synthetic and mechanistic importance and are perhaps most closely associated with the general theme of this symposium since they inevitably involve the question of their relationship to autoxidation processes. The question of the mechanism of these saturated hydrocarbon-ozone reactions is presently an active subject with ionic, free radical, and insertion processes all being considered. 

Depending upon the nature of the monomer and the experimental conditions of the reaction medium, polymerization can be either ionic, free radical, or mixed however, polymerizations triggered by irradiation are generally carried out at room temperature, which favors free radical processes. In all cases, like for photochemical polymerization, the rate of generation of free radicals is proportional to the intensity of the radiation that is absorbed by the system. In the absence of solvent, one can write... 

Such reactions can be initiated by free radicals, derived from compounds (initiators) such as benzoyl peroxide, ammonium persulphate or azobis-isobutyronitrile or by ionic mechanisms... 

The mechanism of these reactions places addition polymerizations in the kinetic category of chain reactions, with either free radicals or ionic groups responsible for propagating the chain reaction. 

For most vinyl polymers, head-to-tail addition is the dominant mode of addition. Variations from this generalization become more common for polymerizations which are carried out at higher temperatures. Head-to-head addition is also somewhat more abundant in the case of halogenated monomers such as vinyl chloride. The preponderance of head-to-tail additions is understood to arise from a combination of resonance and steric effects. In many cases the ionic or free-radical reaction center occurs at the substituted carbon due to the possibility of resonance stabilization or electron delocalization through the substituent group. Head-to-tail attachment is also sterically favored, since the substituent groups on successive repeat units are separated by a methylene... 

The kind of reaction which produces a dead polymer from a growing chain depends on the nature of the reactive intermediate. These intermediates may be free radicals, anions, or cations. We shall devote most of this chapter to a discussion of the free-radical mechanism, since it readily lends itself to a very general treatment. The discussion of ionic intermediates is not as easily generalized. 

The active centers that characterize addition polymerization are of two types free radicals and ions. Throughout most of this chapter we shall focus attention on the free-radical species, since these lend themselves most readily to generalization. Ionic polymerizations not only proceed through different kinds of intermediates but, as a consequence, yield quite different polymers. Depending on the charge of the intermediate, ionic polymerizations are classified as anionic or cationic. These two types of polymerization are discussed in Secs. 6.10 and 6.11, respectively. 

It might be noted that most (not all) alkenes are polymerizable by the chain mechanism involving free-radical intermediates, whereas the carbonyl group is generally not polymerized by the free-radical mechanism. Carbonyl groups and some carbon-carbon double bonds are polymerized by ionic mechanisms. Monomers display far more specificity where the ionic mechanism is involved than with the free-radical mechanism. For example, acrylamide will polymerize through an anionic intermediate but not a cationic one, A -vinyl pyrrolidones by cationic but not anionic intermediates, and halogenated olefins by neither ionic species. In all of these cases free-radical polymerization is possible. 

Ionic polymerizations, whether anionic or cationic, should not be judged to be unimportant merely because our treatment of them is limited to two sections in this text. Although there are certain parallels between polymerizations which occur via free-radical and ionic intermediates, there are also numerous differences. An important difference lies in the more specific chemistry of the ionic mechanism. While the free-radical mechanism is readily discussed in general terms, this is much more difficult in the ionic case. This is one of the reasons why only relatively short sections have been allotted to anionic and cationic polymerizations. The body of available information regarding these topics is extensive enough to warrant a far more elaborate treatment, but space limitations and the more specific character of the material are the reasons for the curtailed treatment. 

Both modes of ionic polymerization are described by the same vocabulary as the corresponding steps in the free-radical mechanism for chain-growth polymerization. However, initiation, propagation, transfer, and termination are quite different than in the free-radical case and, in fact, different in many ways between anionic and cationic mechanisms. Our comments on the ionic mechanisms will touch many of the same points as the free-radical discussion, although in a far more abbreviated form. 

The molecular weight distribution for a polymer like that described above is remarkably narrow compared to free-radical polymerization or even to ionic polymerization in which transfer or termination occurs. The sharpness arises from the nearly simultaneous initiation of all chains and the fact that all active centers grow as long as monomer is present. The following steps outline a quantitative treatment of this effect ... 

Just as anionic polymerizations show certain parallels with the free-radical mechanism, so too can cationic polymerization be discussed in terms of the same broad outline. There are some differences from the anionic systems, however, so the fact that both proceed through ionic intermediates should not be overextended. 

Even though the catalyst may be only partially converted to H B", the concentration of these ions may be on the order of 10 times greater than the concentration of free radicals in the corresponding stationary state of the radical mechanism. Likewise, kp for ionic polymerization is on the order of 100 times larger than the sum of the constants for all termination and transfer steps. By contrast, kp/kj which is pertinent for the radical mechanism, is typically on the order of 10. These comparisons illustrate that ionic polymerizations occur very fast even at low temperatures. 

Among other possible reactions, these free radicals can initiate ordinary free-radical polymerization. The Ziegler-Natta systems are thus seen to encompass several mechanisms for the initiation of polymerization. Neither ionic nor free-radical mechanisms account for stereoregularity, however, so we must look further for the mechanism whereby the Ziegler-Natta systems produce this interesting effect. 

Nitrations are highly exothermic, ie, ca 126 kj/mol (30 kcal/mol). However, the heat of reaction varies with the hydrocarbon that is nitrated. The mechanism of a nitration depends on the reactants and the operating conditions. The reactions usually are either ionic or free-radical. Ionic nitrations are commonly used for aromatics many heterocycHcs hydroxyl compounds, eg, simple alcohols, glycols, glycerol, and cellulose and amines. Nitration of paraffins, cycloparaffins, and olefins frequentiy involves a free-radical reaction. Aromatic compounds and other hydrocarbons sometimes can be nitrated by free-radical reactions, but generally such reactions are less successful. 

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