N-2-BINDING SITE IN NITROGENASE AND AMMONIA-SYNTHESIS WITH IRON CATALYSTS

Abstract

Ethylene was used as a probe to detect the N-2-binding site in nitrogenase. It was found that ethylene couldn't compete with N-2 in the nitrogenase system. So the N-2-binding site in nitrogenase might probably be the mode of 6Fe [mu(6)(eta(2),epsilon(4))] and the mode of 3Fe + 1Mo[mu(4)(eta(3), epsilon(1))] in the cage of the protein-bonded FeMo-co, but not be the mode of dinuclear coordination occurred on the 2Fe-sites at the gap of FeMo-co. In ammonia synthesis with iron catalysts, the N-2-binding site might probably be the mode of 6Fe [mu(6)(eta(3), epsilon(3))].