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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Isolating Free Carbenes, their Mixed Dimers and Organic Radicals
Published on: April 19, 2019
Free-radical carbon-carbon bond formation in organic synthesis
Abstract:
Organic chemists have begun to use intra- and intermolecular free-radical addition reactions to develop useful synthetic transformations. Carboncentered radicals can form bonds with electron-rich or electron-deficient alkenes, allenes, and acetylenes. Radical addition reactions can also be used to construct hindered carbon-carbon bonds. These characteristics, as well as the large number of functional groups that tolerate free-radical conditions contribute to the importance of such reactions in organic synthesis.
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