Antioxidant properties of α-amino acids: a density functional theory viewpoint

The antioxidant properties of 21 proteinogenic amino acids (AAs) and 3,4-dioxophenylanine (DOPA) have been studied in implicit water using density functional theory (DFT). All the calculations have been performed according to three oxidation mechanisms: (1) hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT); (2) single electron transfer followed by proton transfer (SET-PT); and (3) sequential proton-loss electron transfer (SPLET). As a result, five AAs with the highest antioxidant capacity have been established: DOPA, selenocysteine (Sec), tyrosine (Tyr), cysteine (Cys), and tryptophan (Trp). Also, global reactivity in terms of hardness/softness has been evaluated, as well as Fukui indices of local reactivity. Trp has been determined as the most reactive molecule, whereas selenium atom of Sec has been established as the most reactive atom. All the findings are in agreement with the recent literature on both experimental and theoretical studies of amino acids antioxidant activity. However, to the best of my knowledge, the calculations for one electron redox reactions of zwitterionic amino acids in implicit water have been performed for the first time.