Ascorbic acid

Bio-Rad protein assay kit was purchased from Bio-Rad; sodium pyruvate, malic acid, succinic acid, ascorbic acid, N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD), palmitoyl-L-carnitine, rotenone, antimycin A, oligomycin, coenzyme A trilithium salt (CoA-SH), acetyl-CoA, oxaloacetic acid, thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP), 5,5-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB), 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP), carbonyl cyanide-4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenylhydrazone (CCCP), phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), ADP, ATP, NAD⁺, NADH, NADPH, KCN, pyruvate kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, cytochrome c, and decylubiquinone were from Sigma; KO was a generous gift of Aker BioMarine ASA (Oslo, Norway). Antibodies against AAC and UCP2 were from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (sc-11433 and sc-6526); antibodies against OXPHOS proteins were from Mitosciences (ab110413). Kits for the assay of triglycerides and total cholesterol were purchased from Futura System. Plasma insulin concentration was analyzed with a Mercodia Ultrasensitive Mouse Insulin kit. Luciferase ATP assay kit was from Sigma and Lipid Hydroperoxide (LPO) assay kit was from Merck. All other reagents were of analytical grade.

All starting materials were commercially available reagent grade and were used without any further purification. Hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene (P₃N₃Cl₆), 5-chloro-1-pentyne, 6-iodo-1-hexyne, hydroquinone, β-cyclodextrin (βCD), p-toluenesulfonyl chloride (Cl-Ts), p-toluenesulfonic acid (OH-Ts), N,N-dimethylformamide anhydrous (DMF), potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃), cesium carbonate (Cs₂CO₃), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), ascorbic acid (H₂Asc), Bio-Gel P-10 medium from Bio-Rad (Hercules, CA, USA), potassium iodide (KI), sodium azide (NaN₃), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), copper sulfate pentahydrate (CuSO₄•5H₂O), diisopropyl ether, dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), tetrahydrofuran anhydrous (THF), hexane (HEX), methanol (MeOH), ethanol (EtOH) and acetone (CH₃COCH₃) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA).