Radical definition

Inorganic and Organometallic Radicals Definition, Generation and Peculiarities... 

If we multiply the time elapsed per monomer added to a radical by the number of monomers in the average chain, then we obtain the time during which the radical exists. This is the definition of the radical lifetime. The number of monomers in a polymer chain is, of course, the degree of polymerization. Therefore we write... 

In the extreme case where rjrj =0 because both rj and i2 equal zero, the copolymer adds monomers with perfect alternation. This is apparent from the definition of r, which compares the addition of the same monomer to the other monomer for a particular radical. If both r s are zero, there is no tendency for a radical to add a monomer of the same kind as the growing end, whichever species is the terminal unit. When only one of the r s is zero, say rj, then alternation occurs whenever the radical ends with an Mj unit. There is thus a tendency toward alternation in this case, although it is less pronounced than in the case where both r s are zero. Accordingly, we find increasing tendency toward alternation as rj 0 and rj 0, or, more succinctly, as the product X1X2 0. 

The compounds formed when a hydroxyl group (-OH) is substituted for a hydrogen are called alcohols. They have the general formula R-OH. The hydroxyl radical looks exactly like the hydroxide ion, but it is not an ion. Where the hydroxide ion fits the definition of a complex ion - a chemical combination of two or more atoms that have colleetively lost or (as in this case) gained one or more electrons - the... 

On the basis of the reaction of alkyl radicals with a number of polycyclic aromatics, Szwarc and Binks calculated the relative selectivities of several radicals methyl, 1 (by definition) ethyl, 1.0 n-propyl, 1.0 trichloromethyl, 1.8. The relative reactivities of the three alkyl radicals toward aromatics therefore appears to be the same. On the other hand, quinoline (the only heterocyclic compound so far examined in reactions with alkyl radicals other than methyl) shows a steady increase in its reactivity toward methyl, ethyl, and n-propyl radicals. This would suggest that the nucleophilic character of the alkyl radicals increases in the order Me < Et < n-Pr, and that the selectivity of the radical as defined by Szwarc is not necessarily a measure of its polar character. 

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