Inorganic Radicals in Organic Synthesis

Inorganic radicals have so far led a shadowy existence in synthetic organic radical chemistry. This article briefly reviews the synthetic applications of the most important inorganic radicals. In addition, a new synthetic concept is presented, which should demonstrate that with inorganic, oxygen-centered radicals of the type X-O*, in which X is NO2, SO3-, and H, respectively, novel oxidative radical reactions could be performed, which in turn are difficult or impossible with their organic counterparts, the alkoxyl radicals R-O*.