Carboxyphenyl radicals were generated in aqueous solutions by reacting the solvated electron with ortho-, meta- and para-chlorobenzoate. These radicals were found to add to chlorobenzoates and abstract hydrogen atoms from a H-atom donor. It was concluded that the rate constants for the addition of carboxyphenyl radicals to chlorobenzoate depend on steric hindrance, since ortho-carboxyphenyl radical adds to 2-chlorobenzoate [k a d d =(1.0+/-0.2)x10 6 dm 3 mol - 1 s - 1 ] an order of magnitude slower than para-carboxyphenyl radical to 4-chlorobenzoate [k a d d =(1.0+/-0.2)x10 7 dm 3 mol - 1 s - 1 ]. The products of these addition reactions were detected by GC-MS. All three carboxyphenyl radical isomers abstract a H-atom from 4-methoxybenzen thiol at the same rate [k H - a p s ~1x10 9 dm 3 mol - 1 s - 1 ], i.e. the position of the carboxylate group seems not to influence the rate of the H-abstraction reaction.