Sulfur and Phosphorus Oxyacid Radicals

J Phys Chem A. 2022 Feb 10;126(5):760-771. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpca.1c10455. Epub 2022 Jan 27.

Abstract

We report a computational study of the little-studied neutral bisulfite, bisulfate, dihydro-phosphite, and dihydro-phosphate radicals (HSOx, H2POx, x = 3,4), calling special attention to their various tautomeric structures together with pKa values estimated from the Gibbs free energies of their dissociations (at the G4 and CAM-B3LYP levels of density functional theory). The energetics of microhydration clusters with up to four water molecules for the S-based species and up to eight water molecules for the P-based species were investigated. The number of microhydrating water molecules needed to induce spontaneous de-protonation is found to correlate the acid strength of each radical. According to the computed Gibbs free reaction and activation energies, S- and P-centered radicals preferentially add to the double bond of propene (a lipid model), whereas the O-centered radical tautomers prefer H-abstraction. The likely downstream reactions of these radicals in biological media are discussed.

MeSH terms

  • Phosphorus*
  • Sulfur*
  • Water

Substances

  • Water
  • Phosphorus
  • Sulfur