Bicarbonate and Alkyl Carbonate Radicals: Structural Integrity and Reactions with Lipid Components.

The elusive neutral bicarbonate radical and the carbonate radical anion form an acid/conjugate base pair. We now report experimental studies for a model of bicarbonate radical, namely, methyl carbonate (methoxycarbonyloxyl) radical, complemented by DFT computations at the CAM-B3LYP level applied to the bicarbonate radical itself. Methyl carbonate radicals were generated by UV irradiation of oxime carbonate precursors.