The substituent effect on the rate of CC bond cleavage in radical anions of 1-(4-nitrophenyl)- 2-(substituted-phenyl)-1, 1, 2, 2-tetraethylethanes has been explored. The data provide evidence for two distinctive modes of bond scission. One mode is characterized by a significant negative charge transfer across the scissile bond in the transition state. Such polarization of the transition state is in contradiction to the prediction based on the ...