What is it about?
Peroxynitrite can be synthesized from azide, nitrite, amylnitrite, hydroxylamine, nitrogen monoxide, and ammonia. With one exception, all of these syntheses yield an impure product because of contamination with nitrate, nitrite and reactants. In vivo, peroxynitrite is formed from NO and O2-. The rate constant for this reaction, 1.6x10e10 M-1s-1 has been most reliably determined by flash photolysis. The toxicity of peroxynitrite can be attributed mainly to its rapid reaction with carbon dioxide to yield the oxidizing CO3- and NO2 radicals.
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Why is it important?
In many pathologies, nitration of tyrosine is detected. The likely culprit is peroxynitritte.
Perspectives
Often, the toxicity of peroxynitrous acid, ONOOH, is ascribed to the homolysis products HO and NO2. The origin of that hypothesis is based on experiments carried out with nitrite and hydrogen peroxide at low pH. An up-to-date interpretation that involves the proven formation ON(O)OOH is at odds with the simple homolysis model. In any case, the reaction with in vivo CO2 is much faster.
Professor Willem H. Koppenol
Swiss Federal Insitute of Technology (ETH)
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Peroxynitrite: A tale of two radicals, Redox Biochemistry and Chemistry, December 2024, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.rbc.2024.100038.
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