The Haber-Weiss cycle -- 70 years later: an alternative view.

In a recent review published in this journal,(1) Koppenol traced the history of the Fenton reaction and of the catalytic decomposition of H(2)O(2) by iron salts. If his purpose was to shed light on current understanding of related chemistry in biological systems, he failed. Moreover, he managed to sow confusion by inaccurate reporting of the work of others. What follows is an attempt to point out these shortcomings and thus to clarify the situation.