The myoglobin-derived radical formed on reaction of metmyoglobin with hydrogen peroxide is not a tyrosine peroxyl radical.

The reductive cleavage of hydrogen peroxide by metmyoglobin produces a protein-derived, motionally restricted free radical detectable by the spin-trapping EPR technique. In order to determine if the detected radical was a peroxyl radical, 17O2 and anoxic conditions were employed. The EPR spectra of the metmyoglobin-derived radical adduct detected under nitrogen incubations were identical to those of the oxygenated systems in both intensity and form. No additional hyperfine couplings were detected in the EPR spectrum when 17O2 was used. Both of these results indicate that a peroxyl radical derived from molecular oxygen was not found. Additionally, spectra of spin trapped metmyoglobin from four different mammalian species were examined. No significant difference was seen among any of the species, even though one of the species, sperm whale, has one more tyrosine residue than the others.