Singlet molecular oxygen in the Haber-Weiss reaction.
Characteristic chemiluminescence emission of singlet (1 delta g) molecular oxygen at 1268 nm is reported from a Haber-Weiss reaction. The reaction consists of mixing aqueous hydrogen peroxide with a solution of potassium superoxide, solubilized by 18-crown-6 ether in carbon tetrachloride or in dry acetonitrile at room temperature. Since the discovery of the enzyme superoxide dismutase by J.M. McCord and I. Fridovich [(1968) J. Biol. Chem. 243, 5733-5760], the identity of the reactive oxidant in superoxide-generating systems in biology has remained a chemical mystery. The results presented here suggest strongly that the reactive species is singlet oxygen generated via the Haber-Weiss reaction and not, as usually assumed, the hydroxyl radical, .OH, generated by the same reaction.
Khan
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Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Kasha
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D000097:Acetonitriles / Q000737:chemistry; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride / Q000737:chemistry; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000737:chemistry*; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism*; D013481:Superoxides / Q000737:chemistry*
D000097:Acetonitriles; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D013481:Superoxides; C039316:potassium superoxide; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D010100:Oxygen; C032159:acetonitrile