No abstract

The regioselectivity of hydroxyl radical reactions with alkylarenes was investigated using a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)‐based methodology capable of trapping and quantifying addition and hydrogen abstraction products of the initial elementary step of the oxidation process. Abstraction products are relatively minor components of the product mixtures (15–30 mol%), depending on the magnitude of the overall rate coefficient and the number of available hydrogens. The relative reactivity of addition at a given position on the ring depends on its relation to the methyl substituents on the hydrocarbons under study. The reactivity enhancements for disubstituted and trisubstituted rings are approximately additive under the conditions of this study.