A term used to characterize
radicals which have lifetimes of several minutes or greater in
dilute solution in
inert solvents. Persistence is a kinetic or reactivity property. In contrast, radical
stability, which is a thermodynamic property, is expressed in terms of the
C–H
bond strength of the appropriate hydrocarbon. The
lifetime of a radical is profoundly influenced by steric
shielding of the radical centre by bulky substituents.
Source:
PAC, 1994, 66, 1077
(Glossary of terms used in physical organic chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 1994))
on page 1150
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by
A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997).
XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic,
J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.
