It is well established that ozone as well as oxygen activated by tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase or indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase cleave the 2,3-C=C bond of the indole ring of tryptophan to produce N-formylkynurenine. In the present study, however, we found that exposure of tryptophan to aqueous ozone at and below pH 4.5 generated a different compound. The compound was identified as kynurenine by high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Exposure of N-formylkynurenine to acidic ozone did not generate a significant amount of kynurenine, indicating that the kynurenine was not produced via N-formylkynurenine. Acidic ozone thus appears to cleave the 1,2-N-C bond in place of the 2,3-C=C bond of the indole ring, followed by liberation of the 2-C atom. The 1,2-N-C bond and 2,3-C=C bond are likely to undergo changes in their nature of bonding on acidification, enabling ozone to react with the former bond but not with the latter bond. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.