Interaction of C60 fullerene with lipids

Unsaturated lipids when exposed to air at room temperature undergo a slow autoxidation. When fullerene C-60 was dissolved in selected lipids (ethyl oleate, ethyl linoleate, linseed oil and castor oil) the spectrophotometric analysis shows that the oxidation is concentrated to C-60 which is converted to an epoxide C60O. Thus, fullerene C-60 displays antioxidant activity not only when dissolved in unsaturated lipids but also, more generally, when dissolved in unsaturated solvents subjected to autoxidation like, for example, in cyclohexene. The behaviour of C-60 in ethyl oleate has been compared with that of the known antioxidant TMPPD (N,N',N,N,'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine) in ethyl oleate. The mechanism of the antioxidant action of C-60 in lipids has been proposed. The kinetics of C-60 oxidation in lipids was determined spectrophotometrically both at room temperature in the dark and under UV irradiation. The oxidized products derived from C-60 photo-oxidation in lipids have been identified. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.