Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Measurement of the Potential Rates of Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium Based on 14NH4+/15NH4+ Analyses via Sequential Conversion to N2O
Published on: October 7, 2020
Elucidating the coordination chemistry and mechanism of biological nitrogen fixation
1School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia. I.Dance@unsw.edu.au
Abstract:
How does the enzyme nitrogenase reduce the inert molecule N2 to NH3 under ambient conditions that are so different from the energy-expensive conditions of the best industrial practices? This review focuses on recent theoretical investigations of the catalytic site, the iron-molybdenum cofactor FeMo-co, and the way in which it is hydrogenated by protons and electrons and then binds N2. Density functional calculations provide reaction profiles and activation energies for possible mechanistic steps. This establishes a conceptual framework and the principles for the coordination chemistry of FeMo-co that are essential to the chemical mechanism of catalysis. The model advanced herein explains relevant experimental data.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Inorganic Nitrogen Assimilation
Microbes and the Nitrogen Cycle
Overview of Nitrogen Metabolism
The largest pool of nitrogen available in the terrestrial ecosystem is gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the air, but this nitrogen...
Coordination Compounds and Nomenclature
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Structural Isomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can be...

