What are the similarities and differences between ions and radicals?
1 Answer
Aug 10, 2015
In some sense they are a bit similar. The main difference is that a neutral radical has no charge imbalance between the protons and electrons, but the cation or anion does.
Ions are written with an explicit charge because of that charge imbalance, but radicals may or may not have an imbalance of charge. Just because a molecule is a radical doesn't mean it's neutral.
For example, if you shoot 2-pentanone with an electron beam for Electron "Impact" Mass Spectroscopy, where you essentially study molecules whose structures break into smaller pieces as a result of interacting with stray electrons to identify the molecules, you get a cationic radical (middle, or far right of the following diagram).
