The alpha-tocopheroxyl radical (alpha TR.)generated in the reaction with 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl in n-butanol decayed according to second-order kinetics with a rate constant k alpha = 3 x 10(3) M-1s-1 as determined by EPR spectroscopy. Various biologically and pharmacologically active substances like isoprenaline (ISO), epinephrine (EPI), histamine (HIS), stobadine (STO), nafazatrom (NAF) and Kampo C medicine (KMC) accelerated the decay rate of alpha TR(.). The whole process is formally a third-order reaction with the rate constants (in 10(9) M-2s-1): ks(ISO) = 1.28, ks(NAF) = 1.25, ks(EPI) = 0.6, ks(HIS) = 0.4, and ks(STO) = 0.1. In the kinetics of the reaction mechanism, bimolecular intermediates are assumed and the rate constants of their formation were determined.