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Kang, H. Radical Reaction. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60394 (accessed on 03 October 2026).
Kang H. Radical Reaction. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60394. Accessed October 03, 2026.
Kang, Helena. "Radical Reaction" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60394 (accessed October 03, 2026).
Kang, H. (2026, September 23). Radical Reaction. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60394
Kang, Helena. "Radical Reaction." Encyclopedia. Web. 23 September, 2026.
Radical Reaction
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A radical reaction is a chemical transformation in which an open-shell species bearing one or more unpaired electrons is an essential intermediate, chain carrier, or product-determining species. Radicals can be generated by homolysis, single-electron transfer, hydrogen-atom transfer, photolysis, thermolysis, or redox activation. Their characteristic elementary steps include addition to π bonds, atom transfer, fragmentation, rearrangement, substitution, combination, and disproportionation [1]. A chain radical reaction contains initiation, propagation, and termination, whereas a nonchain radical process can proceed through discrete photochemical or electrochemical generation and trapping of each radical. Within radical photochemistry, light creates the radical directly or through excited-state electron or energy transfer [2]. The defining criterion is mechanistic participation of an open-shell intermediate, not merely exposure to light or an oxidant. Radical reactions are distinguished from closed-shell ionic and concerted pericyclic reactions by their one-electron bond-making and bond-breaking steps.

radical intermediate open-shell reaction photochemical initiation radical cascade

References

  1. Gareth J. Rowlands; Radicals in organic synthesis. Part 1. Tetrahedron 2009, 65, 8603-8655. [CrossRef]
  2. Matthew S. Galliher; Bec J. Roldan; Corey R. J. Stephenson; Evolution towards green radical generation in total synthesis. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2021, 50, 10044-10057. [CrossRef]
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Subjects: Chemistry, Organic
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Update Date: 23 Sep 2026
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