Redox Reactions In Cellular Respiration

A redox reaction is a type of reaction that results in the exchange of one or more electrons leaving one product oxidized and one product reduced. The product that becomes reduced gains an electron, and the product that loses an electron becomes oxidized. This process can be simply thought of as a chemical reaction where electrons are transferred. Redox reactions occur as a way to transfer energy in the form of electrons. This happens in several biological processes, including cellular respiration. Cellular respiration can be thought of as a giant redox reaction; where glucose is being oxidized and the products are being reduced. The importance of redox reactions is closely tied to the importance of cellular respiration to an organism. Similar to enzymes, redox reactions are a fundamental part and driving factor in cellular respiration. The absence of redox reactions in cellular respiration would be just as detrimental to the cell as a lack of enzymes. All of the steps of cellular respiration, glycolysis, pyruvate oxidation, and the krebs cycle, contain redox reactions. This type of chemical reaction plays an important role in many biological functions. The main goal of cellular respiration is to extract as much energy in the form of ATP, from a molecule as …show more content…
The ETC is several redox reactions in a row with the purpose of creating a concentration gradient. The reduced energy carriers, NADH and FADH2, are oxidized to give energy to the proteins that are responsible for active transport, Without redox reactions, the concentration gradient would not be created, and ATP synthase would not be able to attach a phosphate group to an ADP molecule. If ATP could not be made, then many life sustaining chemical reactions would not be performed, and the organism would die. The redox reactions are a necessary part of cellular respiration, and a driving factor in many biological