The pro-oxidant activity of aluminum.
Aluminum, a non-redox-active metal is, nevertheless, a pro-oxidant both in in vitro preparations and in vivo. It facilitates both superoxide- and iron-driven biological oxidation by mechanisms that remain to be resolved. More than 10 years ago Fridovich and colleagues suggested that the facilitation of superoxide-driven biological oxidation by aluminum was due to an interaction between the metal and the superoxide radical anion (Free Radic. Biol. Med. 13: 79-81; 1992). This thesis has been examined herein and it is concluded that much, if not all, of the pro-oxidant activity of aluminum might be explained by the formation of an aluminum superoxide semireduced radical ion.
Exley
Christopher
C
Birchall Centre for Inorganic Chemistry and Materials Science, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK. cha38@keele.ac.uk
D000535:Aluminum / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D005609:Free Radicals / Q000737:chemistry; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D013481:Superoxides / Q000737:chemistry
D005609:Free Radicals; D008670:Metals; D013481:Superoxides; D000535:Aluminum; D007501:Iron; D010100:Oxygen