Perfluoro-tert-butyl, a reactive, neutral, electrophilic carbon-centered radical par excellence

Absolute rate constants for (CF3)(3)C-. addition to terminal olefins increase by roughly a factor of 30 for every 1 eV decrease in the ionization potential (IF) of the alkene. A similar decrease in IP increases the rate of addition of CF3. and n-C3F7. by a factor of only 3 or 4. The perfluoro-tert-butyl radical is, therefore, the most electrophilic, neutral carbon-centered radical to have been studied to date. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd