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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Monitoring Equilibrium Changes in RNA Structure by 'Peroxidative' and 'Oxidative' Hydroxyl Radical Footprinting
Published on: October 17, 2011
Efficient bacteria inactivation by ligand-induced continuous generation of hydroxyl radicals in Fenton-like reaction
Zhe Li1, Lianying Wang1, Zenghe Li1
1State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China.
Abstract:
Fenton/Fenton-like reaction is often used as an efficient method to generate hydroxyl radicals (HO) for bacteria inactivation in aqueous solution. However, inactivation efficiency of bacteria in aqueous solution using Fenton/Fenton-like reactions needs to further improve as a result of transient generation of HO. In this paper, we found that the formation of Tris-Co(II) complexes could decrease the redox potential of Co(III)/Co(II), facilitating the transformation of Tris-Co(III) complexes into Tris-Co(II) complexes. Therefore, HO could be generated continuously in the presence of H2O2. Especially, Tris-Co(II) complexes are apt to combine with Escherichia Coli cells by electrostatic interactions, inducing a higher utilization ratio of the generated HO. Therefore, the proposed Tris-Co(II) complex-H2O2 system could be employed as a high-efficiency sterilizing reagent for inactivation of E. Coli. This work provides a promising strategy for bacterial inactivation via an economic and eco-friendly manner.
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