Carbonate
radicals (CO
3radical dot" border=0>−) can be formed biologically by the reaction of
radical dot" border=0>OH with bicarbonate, the decomposition of the peroxynitrite–carbon dioxide adduct (ONOOCO
2−), and enzymatic activities, i.e., peroxidase activity of CuZnSOD and xanthine oxidase turnover in the presence of bicarbonate. It has been reported that the spin-trap DMPO reacts with CO
3radical dot" border=0>− to yield transient species to yield finally the DMPO–OH spin adduct. In this study, the kinetics of reaction of CO
3radical dot" border=0>− with DMPO were studied by pulse radiolysis, yielding a second-order rate constant of 2.5 × 10
6 M
− 1 s
− 1. A Fenton system, composed of Fe
II–DTPA plus H
2O
2, generated
radical dot" border=0>OH that was trapped by DMPO; the presence of 50–500 mM bicarbonate, expected to convert
radical dot" border=0>OH to CO
3radical dot" border=0>−, markedly inhibited DMPO–OH formation. This was demonstrated to be due mainly to a fast reaction of CO
3radical dot" border=0>− with Fe
II–DTPA (
k = 6.1 × 10
8 M
− 1 s
− 1), supported by kinetic analysis. Generation of CO
3radical dot" border=0>− by the Fenton system was further proved by analysis of tyrosine oxidation products: the presence of bicarbonate caused a dose-dependent inhibition of 3,4-dihydroxiphenylalanine with a concomitant increase of 3,3′-dityrosine yields, and the presence of DMPO inhibited tyrosine oxidation, in agreement with the rate constants with
radical dot" border=0>OH or CO
3radical dot" border=0>−. Similarly, the formation of CO
3radical dot" border=0>− by CuZnSOD/H
2O
2/bicarbonate and peroxynitrite–carbon dioxide was supported by DMPO hydroxylation and kinetic competition data. Finally, the reaction of CO
3radical dot" border=0>− with DMPO to yield DMPO–OH was shown in peroxynitrite-forming macrophages. In conclusion, CO
3radical dot" border=0>− reacts quite rapidly with DMPO and may contribute to DMPO–OH yields in chemical and cellular systems; in turn, the extent of oxidation of other target molecules (such as tyrosine) by CO
3radical dot" border=0>− will be sensitive to the presence of DMPO.