Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.121, No.32, 7381-7388, 1999
Absolute rate constants for the beta-scission and hydrogen abstraction reactions of the tert-butoxyl radical and for several radical rearrangements: Evaluating delayed radical formations by time-resolved electron spin resonance
An analysis is presented for the determination of absolute rate constants for radical transformation reactions in complex reaction systems by time-resolved ESR during intermittent photochemical radical production. The technique is applied to obtain absolute rate constants in large temperature ranges for the beta-scission of the tert-butoxyl radical in various solvents and its hydrogen abstraction from cyclohexane, cyclopentane, tert-butylbenzene, and anisole. Kinetic studies of the neophyl and the 2-methyloxiran-2-yl rearrangements and the decarboxylation of the tert-butoxycarbonyl radical also demonstrate the versatility of the method. Further, rate data are given for the addition of the methyl radical to benzene and fluorobenzene, as well as for the hydrogen abstraction of methyl from di-tert-butyl peroxide.