Chemical, Enzymatic, and Electrochemical Oxidation of Biophenols

Introduction

HPA is a monocarboxilic acid and a member of the phenol family. In industry, HPA serves as a common precursor to the synthesis of drugs and pesticides due to its simplicity in structure (figure 1) (1,2). HPA is an important metabolite for anaerobic and aerobic bacteria alike....(3,4) As a phenol, HPA is able to undergo a one electron oxidation with an appropriate oxidizing agent to generate the radical shown in figure 2. This oxidative radical will couple to other molecules to form dimers, trimmers, and heavier polymers. HPA will readily undergo radical polymerization when met with the appropriate conditions. Common oxidation techniques employed to generate the radical include doing so chemically, electrochemically, and enzymatically.

Electrochemical, enzymatic, and chemical oxidation data is shown for HPA in this paper and the oxidation product outcomes are compared. Initial data for the more complex tyrosine and N-acetyl tyrosine is also presented.

Page History

This page was created by Sara L. Simonson in the fall of 2021