Kinetic study of the aroxyl radical-scavenging reaction of alpha-tocopherol in methanol solution: notable effect of the alkali and alkaline earth metal salts on the reaction rates.

A kinetic study of the aroxyl (ArO*) radical-scavenging reaction of alpha-tocopherol (alpha-TocH) has been performed in the presence of six kinds of alkali and alkaline earth metal salts (LiI, LiClO(4), NaI, NaClO(4), KI, and Mg(ClO(4))(2)) in methanol solution, using stopped-flow spectrophotometry. The decay rate of the ArO* for the reaction of alpha-TocH with ArO* increased linearly with increasing concentration of metal salts. The second-order rate constants (k(s)) for the reaction of alpha-TocH with ArO* increased in the order of no metal salt < KI approximately NaClO(4) approximately NaI