It uncouples oxidative phosphorylation by carrying protons across the mitochondrial membrane, leading to a rapid consumption of energy without generation of ATP.
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Dinitrophenols as a class of compounds, of which there are six members, do not occur naturally but are all manufactured compounds.
2,4-Dinitrophenol, a small organic molecule formerly marketed as a pharmaceutical "diet aid"
In 1962, Italian geneticist Ferruccio Ritossa reported that heat and the metabolic uncoupler 2,4-dinitrophenol induced a characteristic pattern of puffing in the chromosomes of Drosophila.