Radical reactions initiation step

The two possible initiations for the free-radical reaction are step lb or the combination of steps la and 2a from Table 1. The role of the initiation step lb in the reaction scheme is an important consideration in minimising the concentration of atomic fluorine (27). As indicated in Table 1, this process is spontaneous at room temperature [AG25 = —24.4 kJ/mol (—5.84 kcal/mol) ] although the enthalpy is slightly positive. The validity of this step has not yet been conclusively estabUshed by spectroscopic methods which makes it an unsolved problem of prime importance. Furthermore, the fact that fluorine reacts at a significant rate with some hydrocarbons in the dark at temperatures below —78° C indicates that step lb is important and may have Httie or no activation energy at RT. At extremely low temperatures (ca 10 K) there is no reaction between gaseous fluorine and CH or 2 6... 

Chain reactions ivere discovered around 1913, ivhen Bodenstein and Dux found that the reaction betv een H2 and CI2 could be initiated by irradiating the reaction mixture ivith photons. They ivere surprised to find that the number of HCl molecules per absorbed photon, called the quantum yield, is around 10 Nernst explained this phenomenon in 1918 the photon facilitated the dissociation of CI2 into Cl radicals (the initiation step), which then started the following chain process ... 

These radical-neutral molecule reactions tend to be chain reactions, which is an important facet of a large percentage of radical mechanisms. As with all chain mechanisms, there are initiation, propagation and termination steps. The efficiency of the chain is defined by the number of propagation cycles (chain length) and, in many reactions, termination becomes unimportant so is not commonly considered, except for conventional radical polymerisations or reactions in viscous solvents. Rate constants for propagation help to determine the synthetic utility and mechanism of radical reactions. Initiation is covered in Section 10.2. 

In a free-radical chain reaction, initiation steps generally create new free radicals. Propagation steps usually combine a free radical and a reactant to give a product and another free radical.Termination steps generally decrease the number of free radicals. 

The quasi-steady hypothesis is used when short-lived intermediates are formed as part of a relatively slow overall reaction. The short-lived molecules are hypothesized to achieve an approximate steady state in which they are created at nearly the same rate that they are consumed. Their concentration in this quasi-steady state is necessarily small. A typical use of the quasi-steady hypothesis is in chain reactions propagated by free radicals. Free radicals are molecules or atoms having an unpaired electron. Many common organic reactions such as thermal cracking and vinyl polymerization occur by free-radical processes. There are three steps to a typical free-radical reaction initiation, propagation, and termination. 

Despite improvements in experimental techniques, the fundamental processes in radiation-induced cationic polymerizations remain largely hypothetical. Pulse-radiolysis studies - on styrene solutions have led to the conclusion that charge transfer from the solvent produces a styrene cation-radical which then dimerizes to form both associated dimer cation-radicals and bonded dimer cation-radicals. These initial steps are thought to be sev al orders of magnitude faster than the subsequrat prop tion reactions. The presence of trace impurities can dictate the course of polymerization, and rate studies provide circumstantial evidence for the theory that nucleophiles can neutralize the cations in these systems and allow free-radical polymerization to occur alone. 

Chain growth polymerization Polymer that grows via a free radical, anion, or cation chain reaction process. Involves the typical generic steps of any free radical reaction initiation, propagation, and termination. 

In a radical reaction, the steps that propagate the chain reaction compete with the steps that terminate it. Termination steps are always exothermic, because only bond making (and no bond breaking) occurs. Therefore, only when both propagation steps are exothermic can propagation compete successfully with termination. When HCl or HI adds to an alkene in the presence of a peroxide, any chain reaction that is initiated is then terminated rather than propagated because propagation caimot compete successfully with termination. Consequently, the radical chain reaction does not take place, and the only reaction that occurs is ionic addition (H" followed by Cr or F"). 

As you can see, the free radical reaction initiates a slow burning of CH4 in a series of steps that produce carbon dioxide and water and some additional free radicals. The hydroxyl radical initiates similar reactions with other pollutants as weU as undesirable naturally occurring atmospheric gases. Without the hydroxyl free radical— sometimes called the atmospheric vacuum cleaner—our atmosphere would be a much dirtier place. 

Polymerization reactions. There are two broad types of polymerization reactions, those which involve a termination step and those which do not. An example that involves a termination step is free-radical polymerization of an alkene molecule. The polymerization requires a free radical from an initiator compound such as a peroxide. The initiator breaks down to form a free radical (e.g., CH3 or OH), which attaches to a molecule of alkene and in so doing generates another free radical. Consider the polymerization of vinyl chloride from a free-radical initiator R. An initiation step first occurs ... 

The fluorination reaction is best described as a radical-chain process involving fluorine atoms (19) and hydrogen abstraction as the initiation step. If the molecule contains unsaturation, addition of fluorine also takes place (17). Gomplete fluorination of complex molecules can be conducted using this method (see Fluorine compounds, organic-direct fluorination). 

Both vapor-phase and Hquid-phase processes are employed to nitrate paraffins, using either HNO or NO2. The nitrations occur by means of free-radical steps, and sufftciendy high temperatures are required to produce free radicals to initiate the reaction steps. For Hquid-phase nitrations, temperatures of about 150—200°C are usually required, whereas gas-phase nitrations fall in the 200—440°C range. Sufficient pressures are needed for the Hquid-phase processes to maintain the reactants and products as Hquids. Residence times of several minutes are commonly required to obtain acceptable conversions. Gas-phase nitrations occur at atmospheric pressure, but pressures of 0.8—1.2 MPa (8—12 atm) are frequentiy employed in industrial units. The higher pressures expedite the condensation and recovery of the nitroparaffin products when cooling water is employed to cool the product gas stream leaving the reactor (see Nitroparaffins). 

Chemistry. Free-radical nitrations consist of rather compHcated nitration and oxidation reactions (31). When nitric acid is used in vapor-phase nitrations, the reaction of equation 5 is the main initiating step where NO2 is a free radical, either -N02 or -ON02. Temperatures of >ca 350° are required to obtain a significant amount of initiation, and equation 5 is the rate-controlling step for the overall reaction. Reactions 6 and 7 are chain-propagating steps. 

The degree of polymerization is controlled by the rate of addition of the initiator. Reaction in the presence of an initiator proceeds in two steps. First, the rate-determining decomposition of initiator to free radicals. Secondly, the addition of a monomer unit to form a chain radical, the propagation step (Fig. 2) (9). Such regeneration of the radical is characteristic of chain reactions. Some of the mote common initiators and their half-life values are Hsted in Table 3 (10). 

Certain kinetic aspects of free-radical reactions are unique in comparison with the kinetic characteristics of other reaction types that have been considered to this point. The underlying difference is that many free-radical reactions are chain reactions that is, the reaction mechanism consists of a cycle of repetitive steps which form many product molecules for each initiation event. The hypothetical mechanism below illustrates a chain reaction. 

An example of this reaction is the reaction of cyclohexene with t-butyl perbenzoate, which is mediated by Cu(I). " The initial step is the reductive cleavage of the perester. The t-butoxy radical then abstracts hydrogen from cyclohexene to give an allylic radical. The radical is oxidized by Cu(II) to the carbocation, which captures benzoate ion. The net effect is an allylic oxidation. 

Initiation step (Section 4.17) A process which causes a reaction, usually a free-radical reaction, to begin but which by itself is not the principal source of products. The initiation step in the halogenation of an alkane is the dissociation of a halogen molecule to two halogen atoms. 

The initial step of the coupling reaction is the binding of the carbonyl substrate to the titanium surface, and the transfer of an electron to the carbonyl group. The carbonyl group is reduced to a radical species 3, and the titanium is oxidized. Two such ketyl radicals can dimerize to form a pinacolate-like intermediate 4, that is coordinated to titanium. Cleavage of the C—O bonds leads to formation of an alkene 2 and a titanium oxide 5 ... 

The first step in cracking is the thermal decomposition of hydrocarbon molecules to two free radical fragments. This initiation step can occur by a homolytic carbon-carbon bond scission at any position along the hydrocarbon chain. The following represents the initiation reaction ... 

Recall from Section 5.3 that radical substitution reactions require three kinds of steps initiation, propagation, and termination. Once an initiation step has started the process by producing radicals, the reaction continues in a self-sustaining cycle. The cycle requires two repeating propagation steps in which a radical, the halogen, and the alkane yield alkyl halide product plus more radical to carry on the chain. The chain is occasionally terminated by the combination of two radicals. 

Alkyl halides can be reduced to alkanes by a radical reaction with tributyltin hydride, (C4H9)3SnH, in the presence of light (hv). Propose a radical chain mechanism by which the reaction might occur. The initiation step is the light-induced homolytic cleavage of the Sn— H bond to yield a tributyltin radical. 

Initiation step (radical), 140 Insulin, structure of, 1035 Integration (NMR), 459 Intermediate, See Reaction intermediate lntoxilyzer test, 637 Intramolecular aldol reaction,... 

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