What is homolytic cleavage?
1 Answer
Nov 24, 2014
Homolytic cleavage is the breaking of a covalent bond in such a way that each fragment gets one of the shared electrons.
The word homolytic comes from the Greek homoios, "equal", and lysis, "loosening".
For example, the homolytic cleavage of a Br-Br bond is
Homolytic cleavage produces free radicals — atoms with unpaired valence electrons.
