Evidence for the involvement of a nitrenium ion in the covalent binding of nitrofurazone to DNA.

We have shown that the xanthine oxidase-catalyzed anaerobic reduction of nitrofurazone in the presence of added DNA leads to the formation of covalently bound adducts. Further, by systematically decreasing the pH of the reaction mixture, we have demonstrated that generation of the reactive species is facilitated under mildly acidic conditions. From these observations, we conclude that it is the nitrenium ion formed from nitrofurazone which binds to DNA.