Interaction between hydroquinone and ascorbic acid derivatives: Quenching effect of organic solvents

The interaction between hydroquinone (HQ) and ascorbic acid analogs was investigated Semiquinone radicals (SQ .) generated by Ne were comparably scavenged by ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate and ascorbate 6-palmitate, but much less efficiently by ascorbate 2,6-dipalmitate. Organic solvents, such as dimethysulfoxide (DMSO) or ethanol, which are utilized for solubilization of water-insoluble analogs, ascorbate 6-palmitate and ascorbate 2,6-dipalmitate, also scavenged SQ .. DMSO scavenged the SQ . more efficiently than ethanol. This suggests the importance of considering such a quenching. effect of organic solvent in the study of the interaction between HQ and antioxidants. The involvement of the ascorbate radical for cytotoxicity induction is discussed.