The effect of low molecular weight chelators on iron chelation and free radical generation as studied by ESR measurement

The purpose of this work was to improve our current knowledge of the non-enzymatic mechanisms involved in brown rot fungal decay of wood, but also to improve our understanding of chelator-mediated reactions that may occur in other biological systems where low pH conditions may prevail. Several key steps (iron chelation and reduction) during early non-enzymatic wood decay processes have been studied by using electron spin resonance (ESR). It has been proposed that low molecular weight chelators as well as Fenton reagents are involved in brown rot decay, at least in early non-enzymatic stages. In this work, the binding between a catecholate model chelator and ferric iron was studied by ESR spectroscopy. The effects of the model chelator, Fenton reagents, as well as the reaction conditions on free radical generation were also studied using ESR spin-trapping techniques. The results indicate: (1) The relative quantity of the chelator–iron complex can be determined by measurement of the intensities of the characteristic g=4.3 ESR signal. (2) The effects of the chelator:iron ratio, the pH, and other reaction parameters on the hydroxyl radical generation in a Fenton type system can be determined using ESR spin-trapping techniques. (3) Data support the hypothesis that superoxide radicals are involved in chelator-mediated Fenton processes.