How many free radicals are generated during homolytic fission of a neutral molecule with an even number of electrons?

1 Answer
Ernest Z. · Media Owl
Jan 10, 2015

The homolytic fission of a neutral molecule with an even number of electrons produces two free radicals.

For example, the homolytic cleavage of a Br-Br bond is

![Homolytic cleavage chemical reaction from http://mhhe.com.](http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/chemistry/carey/student/olc/graphics/carey04oc/ch04/figures/rad1.gif)

Homolytic cleavage produces two free radicals — atoms with unpaired valence electrons.

If the molecule has an even number of electrons and one bond is cleaved, each fragment has an unpaired electron.

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