The area of catalysis of radical reactions has recently flourished. Various reaction conditions have been discovered and explained in terms of catalytic cycles. These cycles rarely stand alone as unique paths from substrates to products. Instead, most radical reactions have innate chains which form products without any catalyst. How do we know if a species added in "catalytic amounts" is a catalyst, an initiator, or something else? Herein we critically address both catalyst-free and catalytic radical reactions through the lens of radical chemistry. Basic principles of kinetics and thermodynamics are used to address problems of initiation, propagation, and inhibition of radical chains. The catalysis of radical reactions differs from other areas of catalysis. Whereas efficient innate chain reactions are difficult to catalyze because individual steps are fast, both inefficient chain processes and non-chain processes afford diverse opportunities for catalysis, as illustrated with selected examples.

Radical–radical couplings are mostly nearly diffusion‐controlled processes. Therefore, the selective cross‐coupling of two different radicals is challenging and not a synthetically valuable transformation. However, if the radicals have different lifetimes and if they are generated at equal rates, cross‐coupling will become the dominant process. This high cross‐selectivity is based on a kinetic phenomenon called the persistent radical effect (PRE). In this Review, an explanation of the PRE supported by simulations of simple model systems is provided. Radical stabilities are discussed within the context of their lifetimes, and various examples of PRE‐mediated radical–radical couplings in synthesis are summarized. It is shown that the PRE is not restricted to the coupling of a persistent with a transient radical. If one coupling partner is longer‐lived than the other transient radical, the PRE operates and high cross‐selectivity is achieved. This important point expands the scope of PRE‐mediated radical chemistry. The Review is divided into two parts, namely 1) the coupling of persistent or longer‐lived organic radicals and 2) “radical–metal crossover reactions”; here, metal‐centered radical species and more generally longer‐lived transition‐metal complexes that are able to react with radicals are discussed—a field that has flourished recently.

This Review describes the application of nitroxides to synthesis and polymer chemistry. The synthesis and physical properties of nitroxides are discussed first. The largest section focuses on their application as stoichiometric and catalytic oxidants in organic synthesis. The oxidation of alcohols and carbanions, as well as oxidative C-C bond-forming reactions are presented along with other typical oxidative transformations. A section is also dedicated to the extensive use of nitroxides as trapping reagents for C-centered radicals in radical chemistry. Alkoxyamines derived from nitroxides are shown to be highly useful precursors of C-centered radicals in synthesis and also in polymer chemistry. The last section discusses the basics of nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization (NMP) and also highlights new developments in the synthesis of complex polymer architectures.