enthalpies (BDE) and adiabatic ionization potentials (IP) of phenolic antioxidants 5. Both BDE (80.6−76.3 kcal/mol) and IP (163.2−156.0 kcal/mol) decrease with increasing methyl substitution. The phenoxyl radical corresponding to phenol 5g gave an intense ESR signal centered at g = 2.0099. The H−O bond dissociation enthalpy of the phenol was determined by a radical equilibration method using BHA as