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Cited by 554

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 33 of the 33 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Ascorbic acid: The chemistry underlying its antioxidant properties

Open access
Njus, David, Kelley, Patrick M., Tu, Yi-Jung, Schlegel, H. Bernhard·2020·Free Radical Biology and Medicine

Abstract

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is an unusual antioxidant in that it donates a single reducing equivalent, and the radical it forms, monodehydroascorbate, reacts preferentially with radicals instead of with non-radical compounds. This happens because removal of an electron from monodehydroascorbate would create a tricarbonyl structure that is energetically unfavored. Instead of forming this structure, ascorbic acid oxidizes only to monodehydroascorbate, and monodehydroascorbate reacts with other radicals, oxidizing by mechanisms that may circumvent formation of this unfavored structure. Ironically, this tricarbonyl compound, which we suggest be called pseudodehydroascorbate, is commonly and mistakenly cited as the real product of ascorbic acid oxidation. In fact, it has been known for over 40 years that dehydroascorbate has a bicyclic hemiketal structure, and kinetic considerations suggest that it may be produced and reduced without forming pseudodehydroascorbate as an intermediate. This and other significant questions about the chemical basis of the antioxidant properties of ascorbic acid are obscured by this misconception about its oxidation product, dehydroascorbate.

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Metadata

Authors
Njus, D., Kelley, P. M., Tu, Y.-J., & Schlegel, H. B.
Venue
Free Radical Biology and Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-11
Volume
159
Pages
37-43
ISSN
0891-5849 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3046158854
Cited by
554
References
33
FWCI
28.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
bronze

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Ascorbic acid: The chemistry underlying its antioxidant properties. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2020.07.013
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Njus, D., Kelley, P. M., Tu, Y.-J., & Schlegel, H. B. (2020). Ascorbic acid: The chemistry underlying its antioxidant properties. Free Radical Biology and Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2020.07.013

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