We have studied the reaction kinetics of ten manganese porphyrins, differing in their meso substituents, with peroxynitrite (ONOO ؊ ) and carbonate radical anion (CO 3 . ) using stopped-flow and pulse radiolysis, re- . by manganese porphyrins could occur in vivo because of the catalytic reduction at the expense of a number of cellular reductants. Additionally, we determined the pK a of the axial water molecules of the Mn(III) complexes at pH 7.5-13.2 by spectrophotometric titration. Results were consistent with two acid-base equilibria for most of the complexes studied. The pK a values also correlated with the resonance and inductive effects of the substituents. The correlations of E1 ⁄2 with the rate constants with ONOO ؊ and with the pK a values display a deviation from linearity when N-alkylpyridinium substituents included N-alkyl moieties longer than ethyl, which is interpreted in terms of a decrease in the local dielectric constant.Metalloporphyrins catalyze numerous redox reactions (1); in particular, manganese porphyrins have been used as redox catalysts in several model systems relevant to biochemistry, for instance, as superoxide dismutase (2, 3) and catalase (4) mimics. Some of the N-alkylpyridinium substituted complexes afforded protection of superoxide dismutase-deficient Escherichia coli from O 2 toxicity (5) and in several rodent models of transient brain ischemia (6, 7), diabetes (8), sickle cell disease (9), and radiation injury (10). Moreover, Mn III TCPP 1 has been effective in a number of model studies of oxidative stressmediated injury (for a review see Ref. 11) despite having low superoxide dismutase and catalase activities.Our group (12-14) and others (15) Given the ubiquity of CO 2 , its high concentration (1 to 2 mM in human tissues), and the reactivity of CO 3. (25), a useful peroxynitrite scavenger needs to out-compete the target molecules and CO 2 and/or be able to efficiently scavenge CO 3 . .We have proposed that complexes such as Mn III TM-2-PyP can efficiently inhibit peroxynitrite-mediated oxidations even in the presence of CO 2 (13). Moreover, the reaction of Mn III TM-2-PyP with ONOO Ϫ in the presence of CO 2 produced more oxidation of the metal complex than expected based on simple competition kinetics (13), suggesting a probable reaction of the complex with CO 3. . The possible reaction of Mn(III) porphyrins with CO 3 . has also been proposed recently (26) in experiments related to the effect of bicarbonate on the peroxidase activity of Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase. In aerated aqueous solution, the stable oxidation state of