ACTIVE OXYGEN IN BIOCHEMISTRY

Biological reactions of dioxygen: an introduction. Oxygen activation by flavins and pterins. Reactions of dioxygen and its reduced forms with heme proteins and model porphyrin complexes. Dioxygen reactivity in copper proteins and complexes. Oxygen activation at nonheme iron centers. The mechanism of lipoxygenases. The biological significance of oxygen-derivative species. Metal-complex-catalyzed cleavage of biopolymers. Exploration of selected pathways for metabolic oxidative ring opening of benzene based upon estimates of molecular energetics. The role of oxidized lipids in cardiovascular disease. References. Index.