A procedure based on density functional theory is used for the calculation of the gas-phase bond dissociation enthalpy (BDE) and ionization potential for molecules belonging to the class of phenolic antioxidants. We show that use of locally dense basis sets (LDBS) vs full basis sets gives very similar results for monosubstituted phenols, and that the LDBS procedure gives good agreement with the change in experimental BDE values for highly substituted phenols in benzene solvent. Procedures for estimating the O--H BDE based on group additivity rules are given and tested. Several interesting classes of phenolic antioxidants are studied with these methods, including commercial antioxidants used as food additives, compounds related to Vitamin E, flavonoids in tea, aminophenols, stilbenes related to resveratrol, and sterically hindered phenols. On the basis of these results we are able to interpret relative rates for the reaction of antioxidants with free radicals, including a comparison of both H-atom-transfer and single-electron-transfer mechanisms, and conclude that in most cases H-atom transfer will be dominant.

Predicting the activity of phenolic antioxidants: theoretical method, analysis of substituent effects, and application to major families of antioxidants.

Many kinds of radicals are stable enough to isolate, handle, and store without any special precautions. The diversity in molecular architectures of these stable radicals is sufficiently large that the common factors governing radical stability/persistence, geometric and electronic structure, association/dimerization preferences, and reactivity have generally not been well articulated or appreciated. This review provides a survey of the major classes of stable or persistent organic/organomain group radicals with a view to presenting a unified description of the interdependencies between radical molecular structure and properties.

What's new in stable radical chemistry?

Targeting antioxidants to mitochondria: A new therapeutic direction

The main research activities of the last decades on tocopherols were mainly focused on alpha-tocopherol, in particular when considering the biological activities. However, recent studies have increased the knowledge on gamma-tocopherol, which is the major form of vitamin E in the diet in the USA, but not in Europe. gamma-Tocopherol provides different antioxidant activities in food and in-vitro studies and showed higher activity in trapping lipophilic electrophiles and reactive nitrogen and oxygen species. The lower plasma levels of gamma- compared to alpha-tocopherol might be discussed in the light of different bioavailability, but also in a potential transformation from gamma- into alpha-tocopherol. From the metabolism end product, only that of gamma-tocopherol (2,7,8-trimethyl-2-(beta-carboxyethyl)-6-hydroxychroman), but not that of alpha-tocopherol, was identified to provide natriuretic activity. Studies also indicate that only the gamma-tocopherol plasma level served as biomarker for cancer and cardiovascular risk. Therefore, this paper provides a comprehensive review on gamma-tocopherol with emphasis on its chemistry, biosynthesis, occurrence in food, different intake linking to different plasma levels in USA and Europe, absorption and metabolism, biological activities, and possible role in human health.

Gamma-tocopherol--an underestimated vitamin?

Antioxidant and prooxidant action of eugenol-related compounds and their cytotoxicity.

Calculations on phenol and a large number of phenols substituted with methyl, methoxyl, and amino groups have yielded reliable gas-phase O−H bond dissociation energies, BDE(ArO−H)gas. Geometries for the phenol, ArOH, and aryloxyl radical, ArO, were optimized at the (semiempirical) AM1 level followed by single point density functional theory (DFT) calculations using a 6-31G basis set supplemented with p-functions on the hydrogen atom and the B3LYP density functional. This gave BDE(PhO−H)gas = 86.46 kcal/mol, which is in good agreement with the experimental value of 87.3 ± 1.5 kcal/mol. All but one of the compounds and conformations examined had weaker O−H BDE's than phenol, the exception being o-methoxyphenol with the O−H group pointing toward this substituent (BDE = 87.8 kcal/mol). Where comparison was possible, calculated differences in O−H BDE's were in excellent agreement with experiment (better than 1 kcal/mol). A simple group additivity scheme also gave excellent agreement with calculated BDE (ArO−H)...

and Daniel J. McKay

Papers

Theoretical Calculation of Substituent Effects on the O−H Bond Strength of Phenolic Antioxidants Related to Vitamin E