radical

Also known as free radical, free radicals

atom, molecule, or ion that has an unpaired valence electron; typically highly reactive

AI overview

A radical is an atom, molecule, or ion with an unpaired electron in its outer shell, which makes it unusually reactive and eager to bond with other substances. This matters because radicals drive many important chemical reactions in nature and industry, from the rusting of metals to processes in our cells, and understanding them helps scientists predict and control how substances behave.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Research

378,959 papers

Radical SAM-dependent formation of a nitrogenase cofactor core on NifB.ReviewJournal of inorganic biochemistry · 2022Liu YA, Quechol R, Solomon JB et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2022.111837
Radical philicity and its role in selective organic transformations.ReviewNature reviews. Chemistry · 2021Parsaee F, Senarathna MC, Kannangara PB et al.DOI: 10.1038/s41570-021-00284-3
Radical S-adenosylmethionine enzymes.ReviewChemical reviews · 2014Broderick JB, Duffus BR, Duschene KS et al.DOI: 10.1021/cr4004709
Mechanism of Radical Initiation in the Radical SAM Enzyme Superfamily.ReviewAnnual review of biochemistry · 2023Hoffman BM, Broderick WE, Broderick JBDOI: 10.1146/annurev-biochem-052621-090638
Radical SAM Enzymes and Metallocofactor Assembly: A Structural Point of View.ReviewACS bio & med chem Au · 2022Nicolet Y, Cherrier MV, Amara PDOI: 10.1021/acsbiomedchemau.1c00044
Radical SAM-mediated methylation reactions.ReviewCurrent opinion in chemical biology · 2013Fujimori DGDOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2013.05.032
Structure and Catalytic Mechanism of Radical SAM Methylases.ReviewLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Nguyen TQ, Nicolet YDOI: 10.3390/life12111732
Activation modes in biocatalytic radical cyclization reactions.ReviewJournal of industrial microbiology & biotechnology · 2021Ye Y, Fu H, Hyster TKDOI: 10.1093/jimb/kuab021

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Wikidata facts

Image: Hydroxyl radical.svg

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Commons category: Radicals

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Article

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. With some exceptions, these unpaired electrons make radicals highly chemically reactive. Radicals consisting of main group elements are often very reactive and undergo uncontrollable reactions, notably dimerization and polymerization. Most organic radicals have short lifetimes.

A notable example of a radical is the hydroxyl radical (HO·), a molecule that has one unpaired electron on the oxygen atom. Two other examples are triplet oxygen and triplet carbene (꞉CH 2) which have two unpaired electrons.