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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Aug 20.
Published in final edited form as: Free Radic Biol Med. 2019 Feb 6;140:4–13. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2019.01.048

Figure 1. The chemical nature of molecular oxygen.

Figure 1.

(A) Molecular oxygen is a di-radical. This arrangement favors rapid reaction with other radicals but permits only single-electron transfers from spin-paired biomolecules. (B) The reduction potential of oxygen indicates that it is a mediocre univalent oxidant, in contrast to superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and the hydroxyl radical.