Reaction mechanisms Part (i) Radical and radical ion reactions

Abstract

In the 1950s and 60s, radicals were viewed as a bit of a curiosity by most organic chemists—highly reactive, uncontrollable, and of little interest to anyone, save for the petroleum industry. By the 1980s and 90s, new synthetically relevant reactions involving radicals and radical ions were developed. These highly reactive species were “tamed” so that they could be used effectively in organic synthesis, with excellent control both of regio- and stereo-chemistry, and there was an explosive growth in the amount of research in this area. Also during this period, some of the first hints appeared that radicals and radical ions might be significantly more important as reactive intermediates in biological processes than was previously suspected.