ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the plausible contribution of the reactions of aliphatic carbon-centered and aliphatic-peroxyl radicals with transition metal complexes to the biological deleterious processes. The transition metal complexes play a major role in the production of the hydroxyl radicals, or analogous oxidizing agents, via Fenton-like reactions and probably via catalysis of the Haber-Weiss reaction of superoxide radicals with hydrogen peroxide. The transition metal complexes react preferentially with the secondary, aliphatic carbon-centered, and tertiary, alkyl-peroxyl, radicals formed in the biological systems. These reactions direct the radical-initiated processes to the biological sites where the transition metal complexes are located. It is commonly accepted that radical reactions play a major role in aging and that such reactions cause a large variety of diseases, e.g., cancer, atherosclerosis, essential hypertension, Alzheimer's disease, amyloidosis, osteoarthritis, etc. The initiators of the radical-induced deleterious processes are mainly the hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl radicals.
