Hydrogen Atom Transfer from HOO. to ortho-Quinones Explains the Antioxidant Activity of Polydopamine

Melanins are stable and non-toxic biomaterials with a great potential as chemopreventive agents for diseases connected with oxidative stress, but the mechanism of their antioxidant action is unclear. Herein, we show that polydopamine (PDA), a well-known synthetic melanin, becomes an excellent trap for alkylperoxyl radicals (ROO., typically formed during autoxidation of lipid substrates) in the presence of hydroperoxyl radicals (HOO.). The key reaction explaining this peculiar antioxidant activity is the reduction of the ortho-quinone moieties present in PDA by the reaction with HOO.. This reaction occurs via a H-atom transfer mechanism, as demonstrated by the large kinetic solvent effect of the reaction of a model quinone (3,5-di-tert-butyl-1,2-benzoquinone) with HOO. (k=1.5×107 and 1.1×105 M−1 s−1 in PhCl and MeCN). The chemistry disclosed herein is an important step to rationalize the redox-mediated bioactivity of melanins and of quinones.