ABSTRACT
Generating radicals is one thing; detecting them with certainty is another. Free radical reactions in general, and oxy radical reactions in particular, are often complex, and it is not easy to be certain what species are present at what point in the reaction. The problem is compounded, of course, by the fact that much of what we know about these radicals, especially in biological systems, is derived indirectly. A scavenger is added, something does not happen, and we conclude that such-and-such must have been present. Since no scavenger appears to be “perfect” in specificity, the situation usually gets progressively murkier as experimental complexity increases.
