Initiating radical reactions with non-thermal plasmas.

Non-thermal plasmas were used as radical initiators in three radical chain reactions: dehalogenation, 5-exo-trig cyclisation and trifluoromethylation with the Togni II reagent. The use of non-volatile solvents (or solvent-free conditions) gave high yields in all reactions under optimised conditions. Short reaction times and mild conditions make this method an attractive alternative to conventional radical initiators.