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Published on: April 5, 2018
The electrochemistry of ubiquinone-10 in a phospholipid model membrane
1INQUIMAE, Departamento de Química, Facultád de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Cuidad Universitaria, Pabellón II, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina.
Abstract:
The electrochemistry of ubiquinone-10, UQ, incorporated over a phospholipid layer adsorbed on a mercury drop electrode has been investigated over a wide pH range. It is shown that the position of the quinone headgroup in relation to the lipid determines the reversibility of the redox chemistry. For pH <7, the reaction follows a disproportionation route involving the ubiquione radical. There is evidence for the presence of a parallel reaction sequence. The bifurcation point appears to occur for the UQ molecule, which disproportionates after protonation and reduction, in parallel with direct electron transfer to yield the UQ--radical anion. The incorporation of UQ in a lipid monolayer makes its reduction very irreversible for pH > 7.
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