Resumen de CO, N2, NO, and O2—Their Bioinorganic Chemistry:: Principles and Applications in Bioinorganic Chemistry--VIII
The biochemistries of CO2, N2, NO, and O2 are discussed in terms of their basic chemistry. N2 and O2 are abundantly available in the present atmosphere. Their reactivities and hence their biochemistries are quite different. The differences can be understood readily in terms of their bonding scheme. CO and NO are in the intermediate oxidation states of respective oxides, and hence can be readily converted to more stable forms of higher oxidation states. As a result, these compounds are somewhat of transient existence, and can be utilized as second messengers in cell communications. The chemical basis of the biological functions of CO and NO is their ability to bind to the iron entity in biomolecules.
