Photocatalytic C–H activation and the subtle role of chlorine radical complexation in reactivity
Qiaomu Yang, Yu‐Heng Wang, Yusen Qiao, Michael R. Gau, Patrick J. Carroll, Patrick J. Walsh, Eric J. Schelter
Abstract
A complex role for chlorine radicals Radicals are atoms or molecules that are highly reactive because they have an unpaired electron. A common means of investigating whether they are involved in a particular reaction is to try to trap them with an acceptor compound. Yang et al. reinvestigated a photoinduced alkane oxidation reaction for which a trapping study had previously implicated alkoxy radicals. Their spectroscopic, kinetic, and isotopic labeling studies revealed that chlorine, rather than alkoxy, was the key radical intermediate; the prior trapping results had stemmed from its complexation with alcohols. Science , abd8408, this issue p. 847