Assessing the effect of the lipid environment on the redox potentials of the coenzymes Q10 and Q4 using lipid monolayers made of DOPC, DMPC, TMCL, TOCL, and natural cardiolipin (nCL) on mercury

•Lipid monolayers with embedded CoQ10 and CoQ4 can be prepared by liposome disintegration on a mercury drop electrode.•The CV mid-peak potentials of CoQ10 and CoQ4 depend on the chemical composition of the lipid monolayers.•The CV mid-peak potentials of CoQ10 and CoQ4 in cardiolipin monolayers are more negative than in DMPC and DOPC monolayers.•The shift of redox potentials can affect the thermodynamics and kinetics of the redox reactions of the respiration chain.

Adhesion-spreading of DOPC, DMPC, TOCL, TMCL and nCL liposomes containing coenzymes Q10 and Q4 on mercury was used to prepare lipid monolayers incorporating these coenzymes. The CoQ10 and CoQ4 electrochemistry was interrogated in these films adjacent to aqueous solutions of different pH to understand the effect of the embedded lipids on the redox properties of CoQ10 and CoQ4.

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