The peroxidation of liposomes by a haem peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide in the presence of indole-3-acetic acid and derivatives was investigated. It was found that these compounds can accelerate the lipid peroxidation up to 65 fold and this is attributed to the formation of peroxyl radicals that may react with the lipids, possibly by hydrogen abstraction. The peroxyl radicals are formed by peroxidase-catalyzed oxidation of the enhancers to radical cations which undergo cleavage of the carbon-carbon bond on the side-chain to yield CO2 and carbon-centred radicals that rapidly add oxygen. In competition with decarboxylation, the radical cations deprotonate reversibly from the N1 position. Rates of decarboxylation, pka values and rate of reaction with the peroxidase compound I indicate consistent substituent effects which, however, can not be quantitatively related to the usual Hammett or Brown parameters. Assuming that the rate of decarboxylation of the radical cations taken is a measure of the electron density of the molecule (or radical), it is found that the efficiency of these compounds as enhancers of lipid peroxidation increases with increasing electron density, suggesting that, at least in the model system, the oxidation of the substrates is the limiting step in causing lipid peroxidation.