Advances in Radical-Trapping Antioxidant Chemistry in the 21st Century: A Kinetics and Mechanisms Perspective

Antioxidants were divided in two parts radical-trapping antioxidants (RTAs) and preventive antioxidants. By the final quarter of the 20th century, the commercial importance of antioxidants was overshadowed by their putative role in human health, as the implication of radical-mediated oxidation in virtually all types of degenerative diseases, including cancer and aging, emerged. From a commercial perspective, there continues to be significant interest in the development of RTA technology. Much of the industrial research effort has been on optimization of the structures of existing RTAs to provide appropriate physical properties and identification of combinations of existing RTAs that achieve optimal performance via the synergistic interactions.