A new insight into the oxidative mechanism of caffeine and related methylxanthines in aprotic medium: May caffeine be really considered as an antioxidant?
Background: Antioxidant properties have been recently suggested for caffeine that seems showing protective
effects against damages caused by oxidative stress. In particular, a HO% scavenging activity has been ascribed to
caffeine. Even if the oxidation of caffeine has been widely studied, the antioxidant mechanism is still far to be
understood.
Methods: The electrochemical behavior of caffeine, theobromine and theophylline was studied in aprotic
medium by cyclic voltammetry and electrolysis in UV–vis cell; a computational analysis of the molecular