Susceptibility to Hydrogen Atom Abstraction

An important practical application of RSEs is establishing, at least from a thermodynamic perspective, whether certain species are vulnerable to hydrogen atom 

TABLE 5.4 RSEs for Monosubstituted Methyl Radicals at 298.15 K Calculated According to Equation 5.3 Together with BDE(C-H) Energies for Selected Systems (All in kj/mol) 

One such application of RSEs, or their constituent bond dissociation energies, is in the study of radical-mediated degradation mechanisms. For example, based on an examination of the relevant C-H and S-H bond dissociation energies in model peptides. Rank et al. postulated a mechanism for generating and propagating oxidative damage via a Met residue of the Ap peptide of Alzheimer s disease or the prion peptide of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. In a similar manner, Li et al. used C-H BDE calculations to identify the most vulnerable sites for radical-mediated damage in 

RNA and DNA, and to study the effects of phosphorylation state and charge on the results. In the polymer field. Berry et al. used BDE calculations for model alkyl urethanes to identify vulnerable sites to radical attack, and to examine the effect of branching on the photostability of urethane coatings.  

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