Methyl radical, bonds

Formation of a methyl radical Bond-dissociation enthalpy... 

FIGURE 4 19 Bonding in methyl radical (a) If the structure of the CH3 radical IS planar then carbon is sp hybridized with an unpaired electron in 2p orbital (b) If CH3 IS pyramidal then car bon IS sp hybridized with an electron in sp orbital Model (a) IS more consistent with experimental observa tions... 

An alkyl radical is neutral and has one more electron than the corresponding carbocation Thus bonding m methyl radical may be approximated by simply adding an electron to the vacant 2p orbital of sp hybridized carbon m methyl cation (Figure 4 19a) Alternatively we could assume that carbon is sp hybridized and place the unpaired elec tron m an sp orbital (Figure 4 9b)... 

As the table indicates C—H bond dissociation energies m alkanes are approxi mately 375 to 435 kJ/mol (90-105 kcal/mol) Homolysis of the H—CH3 bond m methane gives methyl radical and requires 435 kJ/mol (104 kcal/mol) The dissociation energy of the H—CH2CH3 bond m ethane which gives a primary radical is somewhat less (410 kJ/mol or 98 kcal/mol) and is consistent with the notion that ethyl radical (primary) is more stable than methyl... 

Cleavage of the carbon-carbon bond in ethane yields two methyl radicals whereas propane yields an ethyl radical and one methyl radical Ethyl radical is more stable than methyl and so less energy is required to break the carbon-carbon bond in propane than in ethane The measured carbon-carbon bond dissociation energy in ethane is 368 kJ/mol (88 kcal/mol) and that in propane is 355 kJ/mol (85 kcal/mol)... 

In principle, this degradation can continue until the residual radical contains only hydrogen or methyl groups attached to the carbon with the odd electron. Those radicals which stiU contain a carbon—carbon bond can form an olefin via reaction 23 (or sequence 2, 24). Methyl radicals are a special case with limited options. 

This ladical-geneiating reaction has been used in synthetic apphcations, eg, aioyloxylation of olefins and aromatics, oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes, etc (52,187). Only alkyl radicals, R-, are produced from aliphatic diacyl peroxides, since decarboxylation occurs during or very shortiy after oxygen—oxygen bond scission in the transition state (187,188,199). For example, diacetyl peroxide is well known as a source of methyl radicals (206). 

The preparation of semiconductors by thermal decomposition would appear to be impossible because of the high amount of energy required to break all of the metal-carbon bonds before the atomic species could be formed. However, the thermal method is successful because the reaction to form free methyl radicals, which combine to form ethane, lowers the energetic requirements for the formahon of gallium, for example, according to the equation... 

Precise description of the pyramidal structures would also require that the bond angles be specified. The EPR spectrum of the methyl radical leads to the conclusion that its structure could be either planar or a veiy shallow pyramid. The IR spectrum of the methyl radical has been recorded at very low tempertures in frozen argon. This IR study puts a maximum of 5° on the deviation from planarity. A microwave study has also indicated... 

Of the two extremes, experimental studies indicate that the planar sp model describes the bonding in alkyl radicals better than the pyramidal sp model. Methyl radical is planar, and more highly substituted radicals such as ferf-butyl radical are flattened pyramids closer in shape to that expected for 5/) -hybridized carbon than for sp. ... 

The Mass Spectra of O-Isopropylidene Ketals 9 (Figure 6), 10, (Figure 7), and 11 (Figure 8). Three fragmentations characteristic of O-isopropylidene ketals are loss of a methyl radical from the ketal ring, cleavage of bonds adjacent to the ketal ring, and loss of acetone (12). 

Chung and coworkers tried to observe similar species in y-irradiated DMSO-h6 at 77 K, however, repeated attempts were unsuccessful. Besides no free -CH3 radicals were detected in the y-irradiated DMSO-h6. They suggested that this remarkable difference of an all-or-nothing deuterium effect might be connected with the very much larger reactivity of the methyl radical in a subsequent reaction of hydrogen abstraction due to the greater reactivity of the C—H over the C—D bond. 

We shall discuss in detail only one example, and for the sake of simplicity we shall take the (actually undissociated) sym. diphenylethane. Let us first consider what happens when the ethane dissociates. In the first step, the C —C bond breaks and there are formed two phenyl-methyl radicals, which however can resonate between only the structures A and B of Fig. 3. 

With 6-alkenoic acids the intermediate radical partially cyclizes to a cyclopentyl-methyl radical in a 5-exo-trig cycHzation [139] (Eq. 6) [138 a, 140] (see also chap. 6). To prevent double bond migration with enoic acids the electrolyte has to be hindered to become alkaline by using a mercury cathode. Z-4-Enoic acids partially isomerize to -configurated products. Results from methyl and deuterium labelled carboxylic acids support an isomerization by way of a reversible ring closure to cyclopropyl-carbinyl radicals. The double bonds of Z-N-enoic acids with N > 5 fully retain their configuration [140]. 

Although reactions in which molecules are cleaved into two or more pieces have favorable entropy effects, many potential cleavages do not take place because of large increases in enthalpy. An example is cleavage of ethane into two methyl radicals. In this case, a bond of 79 kcal mol (330 kJ mol ) is broken, and no new bond is formed to compensate for this enthalpy increase. However, ethane can be cleaved at very high temperatures, which illustrates the principle that entropy becomes more important as the temperature increases, as is obvious from the equation AG = AH — TAS. The enthalpy term is independent of temperature, while the entropy term is directly proportional to the absolute temperature. 

Microstmcmral changes on irradiation have been observed by IR and UV spectroscopy. Changes in absorption bands due to vinyhdene double bonds [356,357], substituted double bonds, and ethyl and methyl groups give a measure of modifications in the presence of radiation. The ratio of the double bonds (located mainly at the end of a polymer chain) and scission is reported by some investigators [356-358] and found to be independent of temperature and dose. This is beheved to be due to the reaction of the methyl radical side group with hydrogen atoms on the backbone of the parent chain. 

The trapping of alkyl, alkoxyl and alkylthiyl radicals by trivalent phosphorus compounds, followed by either a-scission or p-scission of the ensuing phosphoranyl radical, is a powerful tool for preparation of new trivalent or pen-tavalent phosphorus compounds [59]. However, the products of these reactions strongly depend on the BDE of the bonds, which are either formed or cleaved. For example, the addition of phenyl radicals on a three-coordinate phosphorus molecule occurs irreversibly, while that of dimethylaminyl (Me2N ) or methyl radicals is reversible, the amount of subsequent P-scission (formation of compound C) depending on the nature of Z and R (Scheme 25). For tertiary alkyl radicals and stabilized alkyl radicals no addition is observed (Scheme 25) [63]. 

Emission of free radicals was observed in case of relaxation of disordered surface of selenium with adsorbed methyl radicals [18, 39] which were obtained during pyrolysis of acetone [40] over the temperature range 500 - 650 C, as well. As during pyrolysis of diethylselenide the above temperature range was chosen to ensure low probability of the brake up of C-H bond. 

Studies have been carried out on the methylated complex [H3C-Niin(17)(H20)]2+, which is obtained from the reaction of methyl radicals (generated by pulse radiolysis) with [Ni(17)]2+. The volumes of activation are consistent with the coherent formation of Ni—C and Ni—OH2 bonds, as expected for the generation of a Ni111 complex from a square planar Ni11 precursor.152 The kinetics of reactions of [H3C-Niin(17)(H20)] + involving homolysis, 02 insertion and methyl transfer to Crn(aq) have been determined, and intermediates have been considered relevant as models for biological systems.153 Comparing different alkyl radicals, rate constants for the... 

---