Oxidation of 2,2,7,8-tetramethyl-6-chromanol, the model compound of γ-tocopherol, by hypochlorous acid

Abstract

Due to its high concentration in soybean oil, γ-tocopherol is probably the most important form of vitamin E in Western diets, whereas, α-tocopherol is by far the most important form of vitamin E as a dietary supplement. Recent studies have shown that γ-tocopherol is an excellent scavenger of nitric oxide and possibly other dangerous electrophiles while α-tocopherol has little if any scavenger activity.¹ The ability of γ-tocopherol to act as a scavenger of electrophiles is due to an absence of substituents in the activated 5-position of the chromanol ring.