radicals - which atom has the unpaired electron

[Nicole Ju 3H]

Hello,

Is there any way to tell which atom will be left with the unpaired electron in a radical? Is it generally going to be the atom that is least electronegative?

Thanks!

[madelyn kelly 1I]

Hi,
I believe that the atom that will typically not form a full octet will be the atom in the middle, because the outer atoms will satisfy their octet first. In a case in which there is only bonding between an atom and H, the other atom will not be able to satisfy its octet, as seen in the hydroxyl radical. Attached below are some examples of radical configurations, hope this helps!

[Ishant Goel 2D]

I think it usually will just be the central atom when you end up drawing the lewis structure. Most examples in the textbook have the unpaired electron on the central atom as well.

[Ashley Presnell 1C]

A general trend I have seen is that for example Cl has 7 electrons already so it would be the one with the extra lone electron because it already had an odd number of electrons!

[Harbaksh Kaur 3E]

I usually try and make a lewis structure and see which one has the unpaired electron. It can be tedious but I've found that it works the best for me.