molecular death...
It seems on topic, but the very essence of life is the ability to metabolise. Every cell in our bodies (with some exceptions ) have mitochondria that produce the energy to do everything.
It would seem possible if we had a sufficiently sensitive method to analyse the chemical substrate quantities in tissues that would be necessary while an organism is alive.
Not so good for minutes, but probably pretty good for days?
It would seem useful to have a generally applicable molecular definition...
P.