Free radical scavenging potency of 3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid: A DFT study

3-Hydroxyphenylacetic acid (3-HPA) is one of the colon microbial metabolites of flavonoids produced in high concentrations (~300 μM). In this work potency of direct inactivating of selected set of free radicals by 3-HPA was computationally investigated. All calculations were carried out using M05-2X functional with 6-311++G(d, p) basis set coupled with the SMD solvation model. Thermodynamics of three free radical scavenging mechanisms were studied considering electronic properties of 3-HPA and scavenged free radicals. On the basis of obtained results it can be safety predicted that 3-HPA is able to at least in situ effectively scavenge free radicals of different nature, thus contributing to protection from diseases mediated by oxidative stress.