RO2POOH

RO2POOH is a shorthand term used in organic radical and oxidation chemistry to denote a class of hydroperoxide-containing peroxy intermediates. In the shorthand, RO2 represents a peroxy unit (often written as a carbon-centered alkyl group connected to a peroxide linkage), and POOH denotes a hydroperoxide group. RO2POOH thus refers to a reactive species in which a peroxy fragment and a hydroperoxide group coexist within the same molecule, typically as an intermediate in autoxidation or radical chain processes. It is a descriptive rather than a fixed, isolated compound, and its exact structure is often represented in generic schemes rather than by a single empirical formula.

Formation and role in reactions commonly involve radical propagation and chain-branching steps. RO2POOH species are typically generated or implicated during the oxidation of organic substrates, including volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere or fuels in combustion. They are usually short-lived and challenging to isolate, so their existence is inferred from kinetic modeling, product distributions, and indirect spectroscopic evidence. In mechanism schemes, they can act as intermediates that decompose, rearrange, or transfer oxygen to other substrates, influencing overall reactivity, radical budgets, and the yields of products such as aldehydes, ketones, or alcohols.

Properties and handling are characteristic of reactive hydroperoxides and organic peroxides: they tend to be unstable with respect to heat, light, and metal ions, and can pose safety considerations in experimental contexts. In literature, RO2POOH is primarily discussed as a conceptual or modeling construct rather than as a catalogued isolated compound.

See also: RO2, HO2, ROOH, organic peroxides, autoxidation.