Radical reaction biological example

In biological reactions, the situation is different from that in the laboratory. Only one substrate molecule at a time is present in the active site of the enzyme where reaction takes place, and that molecule is held in a precise position, with coenzymes and other necessary reacting groups nearby. As a result, biological radical reactions are both more controlled and more common than laboratory or industrial radical reactions. A particularly impressive example occurs in the biosynthesis of prostaglandins from arachiclonic acid, where a sequence of four radical additions take place. The reaction mechanism was discussed briefly in Section 5.3. 

Most radicals are highly reactive, and there are few examples where one would produce a stable radical product in a reaction. Reference to a radical reaction in synthesis or in Nature, almost always concerns a sequence of elementary reactions that give a composite reaction. Multistep radical sequences are discussed in general terms in this section so that the elementary radical reactions presented later can be viewed in the context of real conversions. The sequences can be either radical chain reactions or radical nonchain reactions. Most synthetic apphcations involve radical chain reactions, and these comprise the bulk of organic synthetic sequences and commercial applications. Nonchain reaction sequences are largely involved in radical reactions in biology. Some synthetic radical conversions are nonchain processes, and some recent advances in commercial polymerization reactions involve nonchain sequences. 

When the oxidizing species, an electron acceptor, and the electron donor are both embedded within a biological macromolecule (e.g., in a protein or DNA molecules), the reaction kinetics are entirely different from those in solution in which both species can diffuse freely and encounter one another in order to undergo chemical reaction. An example of such intramolecular processes is the one-electron oxidation of guanine (G) by a 2AP neutral radical, both site-specifi-cally positioned within a DNA duplex [28]. Here, both reaction partners are fixed within a DNA helix and the bimolecular reaction model is not suitable for describing the reaction kinetics (4.16). Instead, the kinetics of oxidation of G by 2AP(-H) radicals in double-stranded DNA follow first-order kinetics with the magnitudes... 

The formation and reactions of guanine radicals in DNA and their reactions in the presence of carbon-centered radicals derived from lipid molecules provide instructive examples of free radical reactions in solutions involving these biologically relevant species. The reactivities of free radicals derived from biomolecules depend on their structures. The carbon-centered radicals produced by either by hydrogen atom abstraction or the addition of oxyl radicals to double bonds of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are primary intermediates of lipid peroxidation... 

Unwanted radicals in biological systems must be destroyed before they have an opportunity to cause damage to cells. Cell membranes, for example, are susceptible to the same kind of radical reactions that cause butter to become rancid (Section 26.3). Imagine the state of your cell membranes if radical reactions could occur readily. Radical reactions in biological systems also have been implicated in the aging process. Unwanted radical reactions are prevented by radical inhibitors—compounds that destroy reactive radicals by creating unreactive radicals or compounds with only paired electrons. Hydroquinone is an example of a radical inhibitor. When hydroquinone traps a radical, it forms semiquinone, which is stabilized by electron delocalization and is, therefore, less reactive than other radicals. Furthermore, semiquinone can trap another radical and form quinone, a compound whose electrons are all paired. 

That the mechanism of protection is partly chemical (i.e. involving fast free radical reactions) rather than biochemical (i.e. involving slow reactions of protecting agents with the biologically important molecules prior to or after irradiation as suggested, for example, in the mixed disulphide theory ) has been shown by mixing cysteine with bacteria ... 

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