What is a hydroxyl radical?

Water is an electrically neutral molecule that can be formed by a combination of hydrogen and hydroxide ion ions, as in reactions based on acid. The reaction is written in a short chemical and is H ⁺

& OH -

→ H 2 . It is possible to create another form of combining hydrogen oxygen, which bears only one free electron, not two. This is electrically neutral but chemically very reactive hydroxyl radical.

Oxygen is strongly electronegative, while hydrogen is electropositive. In addition, the hydrogen atom is relatively small compared to the oxygen atom. It is more of an atom of oxygen loving electrons than an atomic atom of hydrogen that carries a free electron. The population of free radicals reduces the number with time through ATT.ition, for example, when two hydroxyl radicals are connectedand create one hydrogen peroxide molecule. On the contrary, easily fissioned peroxides-depending on organic peroxides with large attachments, which tend to stretch these links such as di-term-butlperoxide or benzoyl peroxide-ses as sources of free radicals in laboratory and commercial synthesisies.

The hydroxyl radical is important not only in the laboratory and in the shop, but also in medicine and in our atmosphere. Pollutants of nitrogen oxide from motor vehicles and factories decompose into release of excited oxygen atoms • o. These individual atoms that should not be confused with oxygen molecules are combined with humidity in the air and converted into hydroxyl radicals. There are other sources of hydroxyl radical, more often in other situations, including ozonus reaction by double -bound organic compounds called alkenes. In most cases that occur in nature,are not desirable for hydroxyl radicals; This is the case in health and medicine.

This is because the hydroxyl radical is a small and highly mobile form of free radical soluble in water. In the human body, free radicals are usually considered undesirable and can be associated with disease and aging. One enzymatic system of concern is the respiratory system in which free radicals attack the gentle tissues of the body. Atmospheric particles-especially temporary metal ions, recognized as hydroxyl radical formers in humid environments such as pulmonary tissue, and lead to lung disorders, including cancer. The hydroxyl radical was also associated with the chemical attack on the sources of the DNA.