Role of Hydroxyl Radicals and Singlet Oxygen in the Formation of Primary Radicals in Unsaturated Lipids:  A Solid State Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Study

Primary radicals were generated by UV photolysis of samples of trilinolein, at 77 K and under a controlled atmosphere. The resulting EPR spectra clearly show that the amount of radicals is dependent on the purity of the lipid, the exposure to visible light in the presence of a photosensitizer and oxygen, and, finally, the presence of an antioxidant. These solid state EPR experiments indicate that if all of the elements for the production of singlet oxygen (Rose Bengal, molecular oxygen, and visible light) are not present, primary radicals are practically not generated. They also point out the various steps of the oxidation mechanism: formation of singlet oxygen, which reacts with the lipid to form a hydroperoxide; and photolytic formation of the hydroxyl radical, which reacts with the frozen lipid to generate primary lipidic radicals. This constitutes a new method for investigating lipid oxidation and studying the influence of photosensitizers and molecules that are likely to react with singlet oxygen.