Homolytic cleavage:
i. A covalent bond consists of two electrons (i.e., a bond pair of electrons) shared between the two bonded atoms.
ii. In homolytic cleavage of a covalent bond, one of the two electrons go to one of the bonded atoms and the other is bound to the other atom.
iii. This type of cleavage gives rise to two neutral species carrying one unpaired electron each. Such a species with single unpaired electron is called as free radical.
iv. The free radicals are short lived (transitory) and unstable. Therefore, they are very reactive, having tendency to seek an electron for pairing.
v. Homolytic cleavage can be represented as follows:
where movement of a single electron is represented by a half-headed curved arrow or fish hook,
vi. Thus, the symmetrical breaking of a covalent bond between two atoms such that each atom retains one electron of the shared pair forming free radicals is known as homolytic cleavage (homolysis).
