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The hydroxyl radical, Lewis structure shown, contains one unpaired electron. Lewis dot structure of a Hydroxide ion compared to a hydroxyl radical. In chemistry, a radical, also known as a free radical, is an atom, molecule, or ion that has at least one unpaired valence electron.
The free radical theory of aging states that organisms age because cells accumulate free radical damage over time. [1] A free radical is any atom or molecule that has a single unpaired electron in an outer shell. [2] While a few free radicals such as melanin are not chemically reactive, most biologically relevant free radicals are highly ...
Radicals are uncommon in s- and p-block chemistry, since the unpaired electron occupies a valence p orbital or an sp, sp 2 or sp 3 hybrid orbital. These orbitals are strongly directional and therefore overlap to form strong covalent bonds, favouring dimerisation of radicals.
Nitric oxide is a free radical: it has an unpaired electron, which is sometimes denoted by a dot in its chemical formula (• N=O or • NO). Nitric oxide is also a heteronuclear diatomic molecule, a class of molecules whose study spawned early modern theories of chemical bonding. [6]
Atoms that possess too few bonding partners to satisfy their valences and that possess unpaired electrons are termed "free radicals"; so, often, are molecules containing such atoms. When a free radical exists in an immobilized environment (for example, a solid), it is referred to as an "immobilized free radical" or a "dangling bond".
Radical disproportionation encompasses a group of reactions in organic chemistry in which two radicals react to form two different non-radical products. Radicals in chemistry are defined as reactive atoms or molecules that contain an unpaired electron or electrons in an open shell. The unpaired electrons can cause radicals to be unstable and ...
This information has an important bearing on research to find artificial oxygen carriers. Compounds of gallium(II) were unknown until quite recently. As the atomic number of gallium is an odd number (31), Ga 2+ should have an unpaired electron. It was assumed that it would act as a free radical and have a very short
The structure of such molecules has been determined by probing the nature of the orbital that the unpaired electron resides in using spectroscopy, as well as directly with X-ray methods. [3] Trivalent tetrel radicals tend to be synthesized from their tetravalent counterparts (i.e. R 3 EY where Y is a species that will dissociate).