The kinetics of the addition of alkyl radicals to carbonyl groups. I. The kinetics of the gas phase decomposition reactions of the trifluoro-t-butoxy radical

Trifluoro-t-butoxy radicals have been generated by reacting fluorine with 2-trifluoromethyl propan-2-ol: Over the temperature range 361-600 K the trifluoro-t-butoxy radical decomposes exclusively by loss of the ? CF₃ group reaction (?2)] rather than by loss of ? CH₃ group reaction (?1)]: The limits of detectability of the product CF₃COCH₃, by gas-chromatographic analysis, place a lower limit on the ratio k_?2/k_?1 of ca. 75. The implications of these results in relation to the reverse radical addition reactions to the carbonyl group are discussed along with the thermochemistry of the reactions.