Elucidation of the kinetic stabilities of carbenoid species by integration of theoretical and experimental studies

Abstract

The flash quench-flow kinetics of short-lived intermediates such as lithium halocarbenoids have revealed precise kinetics even in subsecond-order reactions. Simple quantum calculations dealing with the bond dissociation energies of the carbon–halogen bond in lithium carbenoid intermediates and their statistical comparison with experimental kinetic data exhibited strong correlations, predicting the decomposition rates for various dihalomethanes.