Weak bonds fission, radicals

Sulfones are thermally very stable compounds, diaryl derivatives being more stable than alkyl aryl sulfones which, in turn, are more stable than dialkyl sulfones allyl and benzyl substituents facilitate the homolysis by lowering the C—S bond dissociation energy17. Arylazo aryl sulfones, on heating in neutral or weakly basic media at 100°C, yield an aryl and arenesulfonyl radical pair via a reversible one-bond fission followed by dediazoni-ation of the aryldiazenyl radical (see Scheme 2 below)20. However, photolysis provides a relatively easy method for generating sulfonyl radicals from compounds containing the S02 moiety. 

This stems from the weakness, i.e. ease of thermal fission, of the Pb—R bond, and radicals may be generated in solution in inert solvents, as well as in the vapour phase, through such thermolysis of weak enough bonds, e.g. those with a bond dissociation energy of < w 165 kJ (40kcal)mol 1. Such bonds very often involve elements other than carbon, and the major sources of radicals in solution are the thermolysis of suitable peroxides (O+O) and azo compounds (C+N). Relatively vigorous conditions may, however, be necessary if the substrate does not contain substituents capable of stabilising the product radical, or... 

In Chap. 2, the analysis of diffusion-limited reaction rates of Smolu-chowski, Collins and Kimball, and that of Noyes is followed. The considerable literature on reaction rates between solute species is also presented. Additional and important other factors which influence the rate of reaction are a coulomb interaction between reactants, long-range energy or electron transfer and an angular dependence of the rate of reaction. These topics are considered in the Chaps. 3—5. The experimental and theoretical work are compared and contrasted. When the reactants are formed in pairs (by bond fission of a precursor), the rate or probability of recombination can be measured and is of considerable interest. Chapters 6 and 7 discuss the theoretical aspects of the recombination of neutral and ionic radical pairs and also appeal to the extensive literature on the experimentally measured rate of recombination. The weaknesses of this theoretical... 

As indicated earlier, heat may be used to form radicals derived from the fission of weak bonds. A very common example of this is the thermal decomposition of metal alkyls. For example, tetraethyl lead, Pb(C2H5)4, readily gives ethyl... 

Carbohydrate-derived radicals are generated by direct electron transfer, hydrogen abstraction or fission of weak bonds. Direct electron transfer from the enediolate of reducing sugars is the basis of most reducing sugar assays. 

The reaction was formerly considered to involve a radical mechanism initiated by the non-ionic fission of the very weak N Br bond. 

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