Gas-phase C-H bond dissociation enthalpies (BDEs) in norbornane were determined by quantum chemistry calculations and the C2-H BDEwas experimentally obtained for the first time by time-resolved photoacoustic calorimetry. CBS-Q and CBS-QB3 methods were used to derivethe values
DH![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
(C1-H) = 449 kJ mol
-1,
DH![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
(C7-H) = 439 kJ mol
-1, and
DH![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
(C2-H) = 413 kJ mol
-1. The experimental result
DH![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
(C2-H) =414.6 ± 5.4 kJ mol
-1 is in excellent agreement with the theoretical value. The trend
DH![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
(C1-H) >
DH![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
(C7-H) >
DH![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
(C2-H) is discussed.