Bleomycin (BLM), a glycopeptide antibiotic chemotherapy agent, is capable of single- and double-strand DNA damage. Activated bleomycin (ABLM), a low-spin Fe-III-OOH complex, is the last intermediate detected prior to DNA cleavage following hydrogen-atom abstraction from the C-4' of a deoxyribose sugar moiety. The mechanism of this C-H bond cleavage reaction and the nature of the active oxidizing species are still open issues. We have used kinetic measurements in combination with density functional calculations to study the reactivity of ABLM and the mechanism of the initial attack on DNA. Circular dichroism spectroscopy was used to directly monitor the kinetics of the ABLM reaction. These experiments yield a deuterium isotope effect, k(H)/k(D) approximate to 3 for ABLM decay, indicating the involvement of a hydrogen atom in the rate-determining step. H-atom donors with relatively weak X-H bonds accelerate the reaction rate, establishing that ABLM is capable of hydrogen-atom abstraction. Density functional calculations were used to evaluate the two-dimensional potential energy surface for the direct hydrogen-atom abstraction reaction of the deoxyribose 4'-H by ABLM. The calculations confirm that ABLM is thermodynamically and kinetically competent for H-atom abstraction. The activation and reaction energies for this pathway are favored over both homolytic and heterolytic O-O bond cleavage. Direct H-atom abstraction by ABLM would generate a reactive Fe-IV = O species, which would be capable of a second DNA strand cleavage, as observed in vivo. This study provides experimental and theoretical evidence for direct H-atom abstraction by ABLM and proposes an attractive mechanism for the role of ABLM in double-strand cleavage.