What chemical property is present in substances that react slowly to oxygen?

Question

Science question

Answer 1

I agree with Arturo that the question is rather vague.  Since the question asks about the chemical property of "substances" and is not restricted to chemical properties of "elements", my answer would be the chemical property would be acid or base. That is to say that O₂ does not readily react with acids and bases.  It does react with pretty much all other elements in the periodic table to form oxides, with the possible exception of a few transition elements (Au, Ag, Pt) and the noble gases, although xenon will react with O₂.  So, O₂ is very reactive, and the only "property" that I can think of would be the property of being an acid or a base (Arrhenius, Bronsted and/or Lewis).

Answer 2

This question is somewhat vague, because the rate of reaction depends on the temperature.  A reaction may be slow at a low temperature, but the same reaction may be fast at a high temperature.  If the substance reacts with oxygen, it may have a low number of electrons in its valence band, which are attracted to the highly electronegative oxygen atom.  The process may involve stripping of electrons from the substance, which is the essence of oxidation. Perhaps the substance has low electronegativity?