Two methods were utilized to demonstrate the peroxidation of chloride ion to a free species (HOCl or Cl2) by myeloperoxidase. The peroxidase caused the volatilization of radioactivity from soultions containing hydrogen peroxide and [36Cl]NaCl, and catalyzed the formation of HOCl when solutions contianing these components were passed through a Millipore filter to which the peroxidase was adsorbed. In this flow system, 90 mug of canine myeloperoxidase generated 80 muM HOCl in the presence of 200 muM H2O2 at a rate corresponding to a turnover of 100 min-1. Under these conditions, o-tolidine, whose oxidation can be coupled to Cl- peroxidation in free solution, did not accelerate turnover. In contrast to chloroperoxidase and horseradish peroxidase, myeloperoxidase does not utilize chlorite for chlorination reactions. This oxidant inactivates the enzyme. At low pH, chloride ion suppresses the oxidation of myeloperoxidase (to the stable compound II) by both hydrogen peroxide and hypochlorite. Acceptor chlorination is therefore not a rate-controlling reaction in the myeloperoxidase mechanism, and the potential of the functional peroxidase couple is higher than the HOCl/Cl- couple under chlorinating conditions. The product-forming step may be a reverse of compound I formation at the expense of HOCl, rather than the chlorination of Cl- by a chloroperoxidase-like chlorinating intermediate.