Molecules acting as antioxidants capable of scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) are of utmost importance in the living cell. The antioxidative properties of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) have recently been discovered. In this study, we have analyzed the reactivity of pyridoxine toward the ROS (.-)OH, (.-)OOH, and (.-)O(2)- at the density functional theory level (functionals B3LYP and MPW1B95). Two reaction types have been studied as follows: addition to the aromatic ring atoms and hydrogen/proton abstraction. Our results show that (.-)OH is the most reactive species, while (.-)OOH displays low reactivity and (.-)O2(-) does not react at all with pyridoxine. The most exergonic reactions are those where (.-)H is removed from the CH(2)OH groups or the ring-bound OH group and range from -33 to -39 kcal/mol. The most exergonic addition reactions occur by attacking the carbon atoms bonded to nitrogen but with an energy gain of only 6 kcal/mol.

Molecules acting as antioxidants capable of scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) are of the utmost importance in the living cell. The antioxidative properties of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) have recently been discovered. Previous theoretical calculations have shown a high reactivity of pyridoxine toward hydroxyl radicals, where the latter preferably abstract H from either carbon of the two methanol substituents (C8 or C9). In this study, we have explored the reactivity of pyridoxine toward further hydroxyl radicals, considering as the first step the H abstraction from either C8 or C9, also including addition reactions and cyclization. Many of the reactions display similar DeltaG, and hence, the quenching of hydroxyl radicals by pyridoxine may undergo different pathways leading to a mix of products. In addition, we observe that pyridoxine, under high hydroxyl radical concentrations, may scavenge up to eight radicals, supporting its observed high antioxidant activity.

Singlet oxygen is known to cause oxidative stress in cells, leading to severe damage (e.g., lipid peroxidation, membrane degradation, mutagenic alterations to DNA, protein misfunctionality). Recently, pyridoxine has been discovered to be capable of quenching singlet oxygen, however, the mechanism of this reaction remains essentially unknown. In this work, we have investigated four sets of reactions: 1) 1,3-addition to a double bond connected to a hydrogen-carrying group, resulting in the formation of allylic hydroperoxides; 2) [pi2+pi2] 1,2-cycloaddition to an isolated double bond, resulting in the formation of 1,2-peroxides; 3) 1,4-cycloaddition to a system containing at least two conjugated double bonds, resulting in the formation of the so-called 1,4-peroxides; 4) 1,4-addition to phenols and naphthols with the formation of hydroperoxide ketones. Thermodynamically, reaction 4 and the 6(9), 3(8), and 5(8) cases of reaction 1 are the most exergonic ones, with energies ranging from -16 to -18 kcal mol(-1). Furthermore, reaction 4 shows the lowest barrier through the reaction path, and is predicted to be the preferred mechanism for the pyridoxine + singlet-oxygen reaction, which is in agreement with previous experimental results.