Entoxidation
Entoxidation is a proposed class of oxidation reactions in which the oxidative event originates from within a molecule rather than from an external oxidant. The term is not widely adopted in standard chemical nomenclature and is often used in theoretical or speculative discussions of reaction design and enzymatic mechanisms. In entoxidation, internal activation mechanisms—such as the formation of radical or ionic intermediates within the substrate, intramolecular electron transfer, or redox-active cofactors that generate an internal oxidizing equivalent—initiate subsequent oxidative steps that modify specific bonds or functional groups.
Mechanistically, entoxidation can involve generation of substrate-centered radical cations, intramolecular hydrogen-atom migrations, or rearrangements that relocate
The term remains debated, and some researchers prefer describing these reactions as intramolecular or internally initiated
See also: oxidation, intramolecular reactions, radical chemistry, enzymatic oxidation, autoxidation.