Research on the Reaction Mechanism of Natural Antioxidants Using Electrochemical Techniques

Abstract

Natural antioxidants act as reducing agents in living organisms to protect them from oxidative injury caused by the overproduction of reactive oxygen species. Electrochemical measurements are a very effective tool to evaluate the fundamental physicochemical properties of antioxidants. Among the parameters obtained by electrochemical measurements, the authors paid particular attention to the number of oxidized electrons (n), and discovered a reaction mechanism whereby n increases due to the dimerization or polymerization reaction associated with oxidation. This is a property that can very well explain the antioxidant activity in bulk solution. On the other hand, it is extremely important to observe reactions at the immiscible liquid/liquid or liquid/membrane interface when considering reactions in vivo. Electrochemical observations of electron transfer near the liquid/liquid interface were also performed, showing that the reaction mechanism differs depending on the degree of hydrophobicity. A new spectroscopic method devised by the authors to observe electron transfer at the liquid/membrane interface will also be presented.

graphical abstract