Kinetics and Mechanism of Epinephrine Autoxidation in the Presence of Plant Superoxide Inhibitors: A New Look at the Methodology of Using a Model System in Biological and Chemical Research

Superoxide is the primary active oxygen form produced in living organisms. Because of superoxide anion radical formation during epinephrine oxidation in alkaline medium, this system is offered in some works for antioxidant activity analysis, however, without enough physicochemical justification. Therefore, the task of developing reliable methods for analyzing the superoxide inhibition activity of various objects is very urgent. In this work, a kinetic model of epinephrine autoxidation in an alkaline medium in the presence of antioxidants of plant origin is proposed. The participation of chain reactions with long oxidation chains in this process is revealed. The limiting stage of the process is a one-electron reduction of oxygen by the anionic forms of the phenolic hydroxyls of epinephrine. The appearance of the absorption maximum at a wavelength of 347 nm during epinephrine autoxidation is associated with adrenolutin formation, which is confirmed by HPLC/UV/MS. No adduct formation between phenolic antioxidants and epinephrine oxidation products was found. The complex U-shaped character of epinephrine autoxidation rate dependence on the content of antioxidants in the reaction system was shown. The study of the kinetics of epinephrine autoxidation in the presence of an individual phenolic plant superoxide inhibitor, chlorogenic acid, was carried out for the first time. The inhibitory effect of yarrow, chamomile, and bur beggar-ticks plant extracts in the adrenaline system was examined.

Influence of a Constant Magnetic Field on the Mechanism of Adrenaline Oxidation

In order to establish the role of the magnetic effect in the key stages of the autoxidation and initiated oxidation radical-chain reactions, the experimental data and kinetic analysis of the influence of a magnetic field on the oxidative transformations of adrenaline are presented in this work. In the case of autoxidation, the process is being controlled by the rate of adrenaline consumption in the gross process of quinoid oxidation. The analysis of the obtained results is estimative and is based on the assumption of the leading role of superoxide radical during the autoxidation. Superoxide radical concentration increases with the increase in the applied magnetic field strength, which leads to the decrease in the rate of initiation of the quinoid process. In the case of initiated oxidation, the results obtained are based on the known radical-chain mechanism, and they were interpreted using the theory of radical pairs. The observed magnetic effect is explained by the influence of a constant magnetic field on the mechanism of chain termination of radical-chain oxidation and/or initiation of the autoxidation process.