"Radical Theory" of Oxidative Phosphorylation and Photophosphorylation

Ketyl radicals of acetone, dihydroxy acetone, and cardiolipin ketone react in 1,2-dimethoxyethane with inorganic phosphate (model: diethyl phosphate) to form phosphate esters of isopropanol, glycerol, or cardiolipin, respectively. After administration of diethyl phosphate to phosphate-impoverished rats, cardiolipin diethyl phosphate (probably as enol phosphate) has been isolated from liver mitochondria. Hence it is assumed that the enol phosphates of cardiolipin or of an analogous compound (mitochondria and chloroplasts) can be considered as high-energy intermediates of both oxidative and photochemical phosphorylation. Moreover, owing to earlier investigations which show that the formation of the phosphoric-acid-anhydride bond occurs proton-catalytically by acidolysis of enol phosphates, it is attempted here to combine the classic theories—"Chemical Coupling", "Chemiosmosis", and "Cooperativity", including the "Collision Hypothesis"—into the "Radical Theory of Oxidative Phosphorylation and Photophosphorylation".