Free Radicals and Iron Chemistry, Biology and Medicine

About this book

This concise monograph describes a variety of important reactions of iron in biological free-radical reactions. It presents both a chemical and a biochemical perspective of the topic, but at the same time unifies ideas where possible. Iron plays a key role in biological life processes, as a catalayst enabling us to use oxygen to generate the heat and chemical energy that drives life. When iron is not properly controlled within the body it can cause damage by making free radicals. The authors present a chemical and biomedical perspective of how reactions of iron complexes and free radicals may contribute to human health and disease, especially in reactions of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide.

Contents

PART 1; 1. A dedication, some history, and a brief overview; 2. Free radicals; 3. Oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, and water; 4. Iron valence states and ligands; 5. The Fenton reaction; PART 2; 6. Natural iron ligands; 7. Protection against superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and ferrous ions; 8. Superoxide, perioxides, and iron in biological systems; 9. Iron and human diseases; 10. Biological measurements and fingerprints of radical and related damage; Appendix 1 - List of Fenton's publications; Appendix 2 - 'Oxidation of Tartaric Acid in the Presence of Iron'; Appendix 3 - Movement of Electrons and Protons; Appendix 4 - The use of spectroscopic techniques in the detection of free-radical intermediates; Appendix 5 - Reduction Potentials

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