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How did Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier compare respiration with chemical oxidation?

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Diagram showing how epinephrine binding to a beta-adrenergic receptor on a cell membrane activates a G-protein, which then stimulates adenylyl cyclase to convert ATP into cyclic AMP (cAMP), leading to physiological effects such as increased heart rate, blood vessel dilation, and glycogen breakdown. — Biochemistry In biochemistry, researchers study the chemical substances and processes that occur in living organisms and cells. In particular, various processes by which cells gain energy, such as epinephrine-stimulated cAMP synthesis, have been deduced through the study of biochemistry.

Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier revolutionized the understanding of respiration by demonstrating that it is a chemical process fundamentally analogous to combustion and oxidation.12

Before Lavoisier, the prevailing phlogiston theory suggested that a "fiery substance" was released during both burning and breathing. Lavoisier replaced this with his oxygen theory, establishing that these processes involve the chemical combination of matter with oxygen from the atmosphere.314

His key insights included:
* Commonality: He identified that oxygen is the active agent in combustion, calcination (the formation of metal oxides), and respiration.42
* Quantitative Analysis: By meticulously tracking the weights of substances entering and emerging from reactions, he proved that respiration, like combustion, consumes oxygen.42
* Chemical Nature: He classified reactions involving the consumption of oxygen as oxidations. Ultimately, he recognized that the physiological process of breathing is a complex form of oxidation, effectively linking biological life to the same chemical laws governing inorganic reactions.14

This work was central to the chemical revolution, shifting science away from the phlogiston hypothesis toward a modern, experimentally grounded understanding of chemical change.42