A living organism requires energy simply to survive as an organized structure, let alone to perform any useful functions. In this section we explore the energy usage of organisms in a particular area of chemistry, biochemical electrochemistry.
Electrochemistry plays a significant role in biological reactions.
The number and variety of electrochemical reactions in biological systems is large but the available potential range is limited, as shown in the following Table. The strongest oxidizing agent generally available in biological systems is molecular oxygen. Thus the oxidation of the reduced form, NADH, by molecular oxygen is a spontaneous process. It is nevertheless a slow reaction, unless enzymes are present to catalyze the reaction. Figure is not available.