The reactivity o
f purine derivatives (uric acid, xanthine, hypoxanthine, and purine) toward triplet-excited ri
bo
flavin in aqueous solution at pH 6.4 is descri
bed on the
basis o
f kinetic (laser
flashphotolysis), electrochemical (square-wave voltammetry), and theoretical data (density
functional theory,DFT). Direct deactivation o
f triplet-excited ri
bo
flavin in aqueous solution, pH 6.4 at 24
![](/images/entities/deg.gi<font color=)
f">C, in thepresence o
f uric acid, xanthine, and hypoxanthine strongly suggests a direct electron trans
fer
fromthe purine to the triplet-excited ri
bo
flavin with
k = 2.9 × 10
9 M
-1 s
-1 (
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/Delta.gi
f" BORDER=0 >
H
f"> = 14.7 kJ mol
-1,
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/Delta.gi
f" BORDER=0 >
S
f"> =-15.6 J mol
-1 K
-1), 1.2 × 10
9 M
-1 s
-1 (
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/Delta.gi
f" BORDER=0 >
H
f"> = 34.3 kJ mol
-1,
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/Delta.gi
f" BORDER=0 >
S
f"> = +45.3 J mol
-1 K
-1), and 1.7 ×10
8 M
-1 s
-1 (
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/Delta.gi
f" BORDER=0 >
H
f"> = 122 kJ mol
-1,
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/Delta.gi
f" BORDER=0 >
S
f"> = +319 J mol
-1 K
-1), respectively. From the respective one-electron oxidation potentials collected in aqueous solution at pH 6.4
for uric acid (
E = +0.686 vsnormal hydrogen electrode, NHE), xanthine (
E = +1.106 vs NHE), and hypoxanthine (
E = +1.654vs NHE), the overall
free energy changes
for electron trans
fer
from the quencher to the triplet-excitedri
bo
flavin are as
follows: uric acid (
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/Delta.gi
f" BORDER=0 >
G![](/images/entities/deg.gi<font color=)
f"> = -114 kJ mol
-1), xanthine (
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/Delta.gi
f" BORDER=0 >
G![](/images/entities/deg.gi<font color=)
f"> = -73.5 kJ mol
-1),hypoxanthine (
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/Delta.gi
f" BORDER=0 >
G![](/images/entities/deg.gi<font color=)
f"> = -20.6 kJ mol
-1), and purine (
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/Delta.gi
f" BORDER=0 >
G![](/images/entities/deg.gi<font color=)
f"> > 0). The inertness o
bserved
for purinetoward triplet-excited ri
bo
flavin corro
borates with its electrochemical inactivity in the potential range
from 0 up to 2 V vs NHE. These data are in agreement with the DFT results, which show that theenergy o
f the purine highest occupied molecular or
bital (HOMO) (-0.2685 ar
bitrary unit) is lowerthan the energy o
f the semioccupied molecular or
bital (SOMO) (-0.2557 a.u.) o
f triplet-excitedri
bo
flavin, indicating an endergonic process
for the electron-trans
fer process. The rate-determiningstep
for deactivation
by purine derivatives can
be assigned to an electron trans
fer
from the purinederivative to the SOMO or
bital o
f the triplet-excited ri
bo
flavin. The results show that uric acid maycompete with oxygen and other antioxidants to deactivate triplet-excited ri
bo
flavin in milk serum andother
biological
fluids leading to a
free radical process.Keywords: Ri
bo
flavin; uric acid; light oxidation; milk; kinetics; antioxidant