Free radical decay in adamantane

Kinetic electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques have been used to characterize the decay behavior of the ''stable'' free radical 2-cyclohexanonyl in the plastic crystal phase f an adamantane matrix over the temperature range 257-313 K. Typical plots of the EPR signal intensity as a function of time are biexponential in nature, suggesting the existence of at least two channels for free radical decay. The activation parameters for both processes have been measured in both protonated and deuterated samples. A comparison of these results with those in other systems suggests that the host does, as expected, considerably reduce the pre-exponential factors for decay of the radical by bimolecular processes but has relatively little influence on the corresponding activation energies. 3 figures