The final stage of cellular respiration where electrons from NADH and FADH2 are passed through protein complexes to create a proton gradient that drives ATP synthesis. This process occurs in the inner mitochondrial membrane.
From 'oxidative' referring to the electron transfer reactions (oxidation-reduction), and 'phosphorylation' meaning the addition of phosphate groups to ADP to form ATP. The term was established in the 1940s as scientists unraveled how cells extract energy from food molecules.
Oxidative phosphorylation is your cellular power plant's final energy extraction step - it squeezes out about 32-34 ATP molecules from each glucose, compared to only 2 from glycolysis! It's so efficient that it produces over 90% of the ATP your body uses daily.
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