What is homolytic cleavage of a covalent bond? Explain with an example. Or,write about bond cleavage and the intermediate free radical.

(N/A) In homolytic cleavage,one of the electrons of the shared pair in a covalent bond goes with each of the bonded atoms.
In homolytic cleavage,the movement of a single electron takes place instead of an electron pair. The single electron movement is shown by a 'half-headed' (fish hook) curved arrow.
- Such cleavage results in the formation of neutral species (atom or group) which contains an unpaired electron. These species are called free radicals.
- Like carbocations and carbanions,free radicals are also very reactive.
- $A$ homolytic cleavage can be shown as:
$R-Z \xrightarrow{\text{Heat or Light}} \dot{R} + \dot{Z}$
Organic reactions,which proceed by homolytic fission,are called free radical,homopolar,or nonpolar reactions.