A Greatly Under-Appreciated Fundamental Principle of Physical Organic Chemistry

If a species does not have a finite lifetime in the reaction medium, it cannot be a mechanistic intermediate. This principle was first enunciated by Jencks, as the concept of an enforced mechanism. For instance, neither primary nor secondary carbocations have long enough lifetimes to exist in an aqu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Robin A. Cox
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2011-11-01
Series:International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/12/12/8316/