 Upon oxygen binding, a poorly understood transformation occurs during which 2OG is oxidatively decarboxylated to succinate and the O-O bond is cleaved to form a Fe(IV)-oxo (ferryl) intermediate.This powerful oxidant is then utilized to carry out various reactions, including hydroxylation, halogenation, and demethylation.In the best characterized case, the hydroxylases, the ferryl intermediate abstracts a hydrogen atom from the target position of the substrate, yielding a substrate radical and Fe(III)-OH.