Reversible Oxidation of Copper(I) Iodide in the Presence of Imidazole

THE importance of copper ions in natural redox systems is well known. For example, the oxidation of diphenols by molecular oxygen occurs by way of a Cu(I) to Cu(II) oxidation in the diphenol oxidase. We report here a simple Cu(I)–Cu(II) redox system, with atmospheric oxygen as the oxidizing agent, w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1969-05, Vol.222 (5196), p.866-866
Main Authors: GOODGAME, D. M. L, GOODGAME, M, CANHAM, G. W. RAYNER
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:THE importance of copper ions in natural redox systems is well known. For example, the oxidation of diphenols by molecular oxygen occurs by way of a Cu(I) to Cu(II) oxidation in the diphenol oxidase. We report here a simple Cu(I)–Cu(II) redox system, with atmospheric oxygen as the oxidizing agent, which is readily reversible in biologically attainable conditions. This reversibility arises because of the presence of two different types of ligand, imidazole, which strongly favours the higher oxidation state, and iodide, which normally reduces copper(II), yielding insoluble cuprous iodide.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/222866a0