Review: Self-radiolysis of compounds containing tritium and carbon-14

Energy released from beta emission causes molecules that incorporate tritium (H-3) and carbon-14 (C-14) atoms to be less stable than their stable labeled counterparts, thus making radiolabeled compounds prone to self-radiolysis. This literature review examines the stability of organic compounds incorporating H-3 and C-14 atoms and discusses stability of the compound with respect to functional groups within the radiolabeled molecules. The goal of this paper is to serve as a reference for the stability of radiolabeled compounds.