BIOC 2580 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Hemeprotein, Oxidative Phosphorylation, Reducing Equivalent
Document Summary
Oxidative phosphorylation: the electron transport chain of nadh. Oxidative phosphorylation constitutes the final and 3rd stage of oxidation of carbohydrates, lipids and amino acids. During this process, energy of oxidation is used to synthesise atp. It occurs in the mitochondria and begins with the oxidation of reduced cofactors, nadh and fadh2 by the electron transport chain. Reduced cofactors such as nadh and fadh2 are good reducing agents. Oxygen is a very good oxidizing agent - one of the strongest known to chemistry. So the oxidation of any kind of reduced carbon compound is highly favourable thermodynamically. Now we see why oxygen presented such a threat - and such an opportunity - to life on this planet, when it first began to accumulate in the atmosphere, billions of years ago, thanks to photosynthesis. The calculations show you how much energy is released by the reoxidation and. Since oxygen is such a good both reactions have very large negative.