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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1994 Dec 20;91(26):12365–12367. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.26.12365

Singlet molecular oxygen in the Haber-Weiss reaction.

A U Khan 1, M Kasha 1
PMCID: PMC45438  PMID: 7809042

Abstract

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.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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