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THE CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE CATECHOLAMINES INDUCED BY UV IRRADIATION*
Author(s) -
Walaas E.
Publication year - 1963
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-1097.1963.tb08115.x
Subject(s) - chemistry , adrenochrome , melanin , irradiation , polymerization , oxygen , photochemistry , radical , metal , ultraviolet , ultraviolet irradiation , oxidative phosphorylation , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , biochemistry , epinephrine , polymer , medicine , physics , quantum mechanics , anesthesia , nuclear physics
— The conversion of catecholamines exposed to ultraviolet irradiation has been investigated spectrophotometricaly. The UV activation of the molecule is a direct effect and the activation is not dependent upon the presence of metals. The transformation, which includes mdolization and polymerization requkes the presence of oxygen. The rate of the oxidative transformation is of the same order of magnitude in 100 per cent oxygen as in air, provided a metal chelating agent is present. At neutral pH photoactivated adrenaline is oxidized to adrenochrome and further polymerized to melanin. At alkaline pH U.V. irradiation results in the formation of conversion products of adrenaline, different from those observed at neutral pH, and the melanin production is low. When noradrenaline is subjected to U.V. irradiation at neutral pH the processes of oxidation and polymerization takes place at a much slower rate than that observed for adrenaline. The radiation effect on noradrenaline at alkaline pH is characterized by increased melanin formation. Radicals derived from U.V. irradiation of H 2 O 2 convert the catecholamines to different products, and no melanin formation can be recorded. The sequence of reactions leading from the activated catecholamines to indolic structures, and the participation of the indolic structures in melanogenesis from the catecholamines is discussed.