The quenching of singlet molecular oxygen by carnosine and anserine in aqueous solution

S. Yu. Egorov, E. G. Kurella, A. A. Boldyrev, A. A. Krasnovsky (Jr.)

Department of Biology, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow

Abstract: Quenching of singlet (1Δg) molecular oxygen by histidine and its derivatives – carnosine, anserine and ergothioneine as well as by imidazole has been studied via 1O2 self-emission sensitized by pulsed laser excitation of pigment in aqueous solution. The rate constants of 1O2 quenching by compounds tested were of the same order of magnitude and varied in the range of (2–4)-107 M-1 s-1. It is therefore the imidazole ring of the substances tested that is largely responsible for 4O2 quenching.

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry 1992, 18 (1):142-144

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