Oxygen atom state, forming hydroxyl radicals

Insertion of oxygen atom from Cpd I into the carbon-carbon double bond with formation of epoxide (Scheme Ic) reveals features characteristic for a concerted process, although formation of radical intermediates is possible in many cases. A unified description of this alternative is also provided by the two-state mechanism of catalysis by Cpd I (see the section on Hydroxylation of hydrocarbons). Essentially, the concerted oxygen insertion represents a low-spin reaction surface, whereas the distinct radical intermediate is formed on the high-spin reaction pathway. In the latter case, the carbon radical may attack the nearby heme nitrogen and modify the heme covalently. This reaction is also an important inactivation pathway of cytochromes P450 during oxidative transformations of terminal double and triple bonds. 

The toxic metals present in industrial effluent streams include heavy metals such as silver, lead, mercury, nickel, zinc, and chromium. These heavy metals accumulate in soil and are eventually transferred to the human food chain. In irradiation treatment the general strategy is the reduction of higher oxidation state ions to lower oxidation state ions in lower oxidation state the solubility is usually lower, so often the reduced ions can be separated by precipitation. The reduction is done by the hydrated electron and hydrogen atom (under oxygen-free conditions) and/or by other reducing-type radicals formed in hydroxyl radical + alcohol or in hydroxyl radical + acetic acid reaction (see for instance reaction (O 23.34) and (O 23.144)) (Haji-Saeid 2007 Chaychian et al. 1998 Belloni and Mostafavi 2004 Belloni and Remita 2008). 

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