Reactive Oxygen Species Scavenging Capacity of Functional Fullerenes in Solution and in Macrophage Cells

Fullerene derivatives are known radical scavengers and quenchers of reactive oxygen species and have been studied as promising antioxidative agents in biological systems, yet the correlation between the structural features and their efficiency has not been well understood. In this report, we synthesized eight representative water-soluble fullerene derivatives and compared their radical scavenging properties via electron paramagnetic resonance in solution and antioxidative capacity in the H2O2-treated RAW 264.7 macrophage cell model. Through this systematic study, we identified multiple key parameters contributing to their radical scavenging and antioxidative effects, including the number and identity of functional groups on the C60 cage, the size of aggregates, and their cellular uptake in RAW 264.7 cells.