Chapter 11: Radicals

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to radicals, their stability, formation, reactions, and implications.

Radicals

Any chemical species that contains one or more unpaired electrons; often highly unstable and very reactive.

Radical Stability

The stability of radicals changes and closely follows the trend of carbocation stability; improved when part of a conjugation.

Homolytic bond cleavage

Cleavage of a bond where each fragment retains one electron, producing radicals.

Initiation step

The initial step in a radical reaction where a radical is formed.

Propagation step

The step in a radical reaction where a radical reacts with another compound, creating another radical.

Termination step

The step in a radical reaction where two radicals react to form a bond, eliminating further radical production.

Allylic radical

A radical that is fairly stable due to possible resonance, often found in allylic groups.

Allylic bromination

The reaction performed with N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) in dichloromethane to create allylic bromides.

Autoxidation

Natural oxidative processes involving allylic groups reacting with oxygen to create hydroperoxide compounds.

Regioselective non-Markovnikov reaction

A reaction where HBr reacts in a way that does not follow Markovnikov's rule, typically using a peroxide radical initiator.