Sometimes
chain branching is brought about by an intermediate which has a long
lifetime compared with an ordinary
free radical. If this intermediate can break down in different ways, only one of which leads to branching, there may be a relatively slow increase in the number of radicals, and there is said to be degenerate
chain branching.
Source:
PAC, 1996, 68, 149
(A glossary of terms used in chemical kinetics, including reaction dynamics (IUPAC Recommendations 1996))
on page 162
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997). XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
doi:10.1351/goldbook.
