Hemoglobin as a nitrite anhydrase: modeling methemoglobin-mediated N2O3 formation

Nitrite has recently been recognized as a storage form of NO in blood and as playing a key role in hypoxic vasodilation. The nitrite ion is readily reduced to NO by hemoglobin in red blood cells, which, as it happens, also presents a conundrum. Given NO’s enormous affinity for ferrous heme, a key question concerns how it escapes capture by hemoglobin as it diffuses out of the red cells and to the endothelium, where vasodilation takes place. Dinitrogen trioxide (N₂O₃) has been proposed as a vehicle that transports NO to the endothelium, where it dissociates to NO and NO₂. Although N₂O₃ formation might be readily explained by the reaction Hb‐Fe³⁺+NO₂^?+NO?Hb‐Fe²⁺+N₂O₃, the exact manner in which methemoglobin (Hb‐Fe³⁺), nitrite and NO interact with one another is unclear. Both an “Hb‐Fe³⁺‐NO₂^?+NO” pathway and an “Hb‐Fe³⁺‐NO+NO₂^?” pathway have been proposed. Neither pathway has been established experimentally. Nor has there been any attempt until now to theoretically model N₂O₃ formation, the so‐called nitrite anhydrase reaction. Both pathways have been examined here in a detailed density functional theory (DFT, B3LYP/TZP) study and both have been found to be feasible based on energetics criteria. Modeling the “Hb‐Fe³⁺‐NO₂^?+NO” pathway proved complex. Not only are multiple linkage‐isomeric (N‐ and O‐coordinated) structures conceivable for methemoglobin–nitrite, multiple isomeric forms are also possible for N₂O₃ (the lowest‐energy state has an N? N‐bonded nitronitrosyl structure, O₂N? NO). We considered multiple spin states of methemoglobin–nitrite as well as ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic coupling of the Fe³⁺ and NO spins. Together, the isomerism and spin variables result in a diabolically complex combinatorial space of reaction pathways. Fortunately, transition states could be successfully calculated for the vast majority of these reaction channels, both M_S=0 and M_S=1. For a six‐coordinate Fe³⁺‐O‐nitrito starting geometry, which is plausible for methemoglobin–nitrite, we found that N₂O₃ formation entails barriers of about 17–20 kcal mol^?1, which is reasonable for a physiologically relevant reaction. For the “Hb‐Fe³⁺‐NO+NO₂^?” pathway, which was also found to be energetically reasonable, our calculations indicate a two‐step mechanism. The first step involves transfer of an electron from NO₂^? to the Fe³⁺–heme–NO center ({FeNO}⁶) , resulting in formation of nitrogen dioxide and an Fe²⁺–heme–NO center ({FeNO}⁷). Subsequent formation of N₂O₃ entails a barrier of only 8.1 kcal mol^?1. From an energetics point of view, the nitrite anhydrase reaction thus is a reasonable proposition. Although it is tempting to interpret our results as favoring the “{FeNO}⁶+NO₂^?” pathway over the “Fe³⁺‐nitrite+NO” pathway, both pathways should be considered energetically reasonable for a biological reaction and it seems inadvisable to favor a unique reaction channel based solely on quantum chemical modeling.     

New insights in the atmospheric HONO formation: new pathways for N2O4 isomerization and NO2 dimerization in the presence of water

Isomerization of N(2)O(4) and dimerization of NO(2) in thin water films on surfaces are believed to be key steps in the hydrolysis of NO(2), which generates HONO, a significant precursor to the OH free radical in lower atmosphere and high-energy materials. Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations using the density functional theory are carried out for NO(2)(H(2)O)(m), m ≤ 4, and N(2)O(4)(H(2)O)(n) clusters, n ≤ 7, used to mimic the surface reaction, to investigate the mechanism around room temperature. The results are (i) the NO(2) dimerization and N(2)O(4) isomerization reactions occur via two possible pathways, the non-water-assisted and water-assisted mechanisms; (ii) the NO(2) dimerization in the presence of water yields either ONONO(2)(H(2)O)(m) or NO(3)(-)NO(+)(H(2)O)(m) clusters, but it is also possible to form the HNO(3)(NO(2)(-))(H(3)O(+))(H(2)O)(m-2) transition state to form HONO and HNO(3), directly; (iii) the N(2)O(4) isomerization yields the NO(3)(-)NO(+)(H(2)O)(n) cluster, but it does not hydrolyze faster than the NO(2)(+)NO(2)(-)(H(2)O)(n) hydrolysis to directly form the HONO and HNO(3). New insights for hydrolysis of oxides of nitrogen in and on thin water films on surfaces in the atmosphere are discussed.     

Ab initio calculations of nitrogen oxide reactions: formation of N2O2, N2O3, N2O4, N2O5, and N4O2 from NO, NO2, NO3, and N2O

Ab initio computational methods were used to obtain Delta(r)H(o), Delta(r)G(o), and Delta(r)S(o) for the reactions 2 NO <=> N(2)O(2) (I), NO+NO(2) <=> N(2)O(3) (II), 2 NO(2) <=> N(2)O(4) (III), NO(2)+NO(3) <=> N(2)O(5) (IV), and 2 N(2)O <=> N(4)O(2) (V) at 298.15 K. Optimized geometries and frequencies were obtained at the CCSD(T) level for all molecules except for NO, NO(2), and NO(3), for which UCCSD(T) was used. In all cases the aug-cc-pVDZ (avdz) basis set was employed. The electronic energies of all species were obtained from complete basis set extrapolations (to aug-cc-pV5Z) using five different extrapolation methods. The [U]CCSD(T)/avdz geometries and frequencies of the N(x)O(y) compounds are compared with literature values, and problems associated with the values and assignments of low-frequency modes are discussed. The standard entropies are compared with values cited in the NIST/JANAF tables [NIST-JANAF Thermochemical Tables, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data Monograph No. 9, 4th ed. edited by M. W. Chase, Jr. (American Chemical Society and American Institute of Physics, Woodbury, NY, 1988)]. With the exception of I, in which the dimer is weakly bound, and V, for which thermodynamic data appears to be lacking, the calculated standard thermodynamic functions of reaction are in good agreement with literature values obtained both from statistical mechanical and various equilibrium methods. A multireference-configuration interaction calculation (MRCI+Q) for I provides a D(e) value that is consistent with previous calculations. The combined uncertainties of the NIST/JANAF values for Delta(r)H(o), Delta(r)G(o), and Delta(r)S(o) of II, III, and IV are discussed. The potential surface for the dissociation of N(2)O(4) was explored using multireference methods. No evidence of a barrier to dissociation was found.     

乙烷/H2O/O2/N2体系中光致过氧化物的产生

采用长光路Fourier红外光谱(LP-FTIR)和高压液相色谱(HPLC)技术研究了乙烷/H2O/O2/N2光化学体系中过氧化物的产生，证实乙烷降解产物中有过氧化氢、乙基过氧化氢(CH3CH2OOH,EHP)和过氧乙酸[CH3C(O)OOH,PAA]，并首次发现了甲基过氧化氢(CH3OOH,MHP)、羟甲基过氧化氢(HOCH2OOH,HMHP)和过氧甲醚(CH3OOCH3,DMP).H2O2,MHP和EHP的最大计算产率分别为6.8%，6.4%和6.7%，是乙烷降解生成的主要过氧化产物。MHP主要来自乙烷降解过程中的中间物乙醛的光解。HMHP的检出表明乙烷降解过程中可能有Criegee中间体.CH2OO.产生。OH自由基引发的乙烷降解反应可能是对流层大气H2O2，MHP及EHP的重要来源之一。     

HO2 formation from the OH + benzene reaction in the presence of O2

In this study we investigated the secondary formation of HO(2) following the benzene + OH reaction in N(2) with variable O(2) content at atmospheric pressure and room temperature in the absence of NO. After pulsed formation of OH, HO(x) (= OH + HO(2)) and OH decay curves were measured by means of a laser-induced fluorescence technique (LIF). In synthetic air the total HO(2) yield was determined to be 0.69 ± 0.10 by comparison to results obtained with CO as a reference compound. HO(2) is expected to be a direct product of the reaction of the intermediately formed OH-benzene adduct with O(2). The HO(2) yield is slightly greater than the currently recommended yield of the proposed HO(2) co-product phenol (～53%). This hints towards other, minor HO(2) forming channels in the absence of NO, e.g. the formation of epoxide species that was proposed in the literature. For other test compounds upper limits of HO(2) yields of 0.10 (isoprene) and 0.05 (cyclohexane) were obtained, respectively. In further experiments at low O(2) concentrations (0.06-0.14% in N(2)) rate constants of (2.4 ± 1.1) × 10(-16) cm(3) s(-1) and (5.6 ± 1.1) × 10(-12) cm(3) s(-1) were estimated for the OH-benzene adduct reactions with O(2) and O(3), respectively. The rate constant of the unimolecular dissociation of the adduct back to benzene + OH was determined to be (3.9 ± 1.3) s(-1). The HO(2) yield at low O(2) was similar to that found in synthetic air, independent of O(2) and O(3) concentrations indicating comparable HO(2) yields for the adduct + O(2) and adduct + O(3) reactions.     

The formation of NO+ from the reaction of N2(2+) with O2

We have studied the potentially ionospherically significant reaction between N(2)2+ with O2 using position-sensitive coincidence spectroscopy. We observe both nondissociative and dissociative electron transfer reactions as well as two channels involving the formation of NO+. The NO+ product is formed together with either N+ and O in one bond-forming channel or O+ and N in the other bond-forming channel. Using the scattering diagrams derived from the coincidence data, it seems clear that both bond-forming reactions proceed via a collision complex [N2O2]2+. This collision complex then decays by loss of a neutral atom to form a daughter dication (NO2(2+) or N2O2+), which then decays by charge separation to yield the observed products.     

Non-catalytic remediation of aqueous solutions by microwave-assisted photolysis in the presence of H2O2

Advanced oxidation processes have emerged as potentially powerful methods to transform organic pollutants in aqueous solutions into non-toxic substances. In this work, a comparison of degradation dynamics of five aromatic compounds (phenol, chlorobenzene, nitrobenzene, 4-chlorophenol, and pentachlorophenol) in aqueous solutions by non-catalytic UV, MW, and combined MW/UV remediation techniques in the presence of H₂O₂ is presented. Relative degradation rate constants have been monitored and the major products were identified. The combined degradation effect of UV and MW radiation was found larger than the sum of isolated effects in all cases studied. It is concluded that such an overall efficiency increase is essentially based on a thermal enhancement of subsequent oxidation reactions of the primary photoreaction intermediates. Optimizations revealed that this effect was particularly significant in samples with a low concentration of H₂O₂, however, a larger excess of H₂O₂ was essential to complete the destruction in most experiments. The absence of heterogeneous catalysts was in no doubt an additional advantage of the technique applied.     

Electrochemical formation of zinc selenide from acidic aqueous solutions

An investigation on electrochemical ZnSe thin film growth from acidic aqueous baths of Se(IV) and Zn(II) species is described. The range of co-deposition potentials is predicted on a thermodynamic basis according to a known electrochemical model. A study on the voltammetric behavior of Ti and Ni electrode substrates in the working solutions at various temperatures provides the main features of the applied electrochemical process. Cathodic electrodeposition at high temperatures (>65 °C) results in the formation of polycrystalline cubic, randomly oriented, ZnSe crystallites suffering, in general, from the presence of a crystalline Se phase in excess. Annealing of as-grown films adjusts the stoichiometry and leads to the production of semiconductive ZnSe with a band gap width of 2.7 eV. Electronic Publication     

N2O as an intermediate for the formation of N2 during SCR (NO): stationary and transient conditions

Platinum-based catalysts can be used for the selective reduction of NO_x in lean burn conditions, but they form undesirably high quantities of N₂O. In this study conducted under stationary and transient conditions, we attempted to better understand the mechanism of SCR (NO) over Pt. We found that N₂ selectivity increased with contact time, that significant quantities of N₂ were formed when N₂O was used as the reactant, and that N₂O was formed more quickly than N₂ when NO was used as the reactant. These results led us to propose a kinetic model in which adsorbed N₂O is an intermediate for NO reduction into N₂.     

The mechanism of N2O formation via the (NO)2 dimer: a density functional theory study

Catalytic formation of N(2)O via a (NO)(2) intermediate was studied employing density functional theory with generalized gradient approximations. Dimer formation was not favored on Pt(111), in agreement with previous reports. On Pt(211) a variety of dimer structures were studied, including trans-(NO)(2) and cis-(NO)(2) configurations. A possible pathway involving (NO)(2) formation at the terrace near to a Pt step is identified as the possible mechanism for low-temperature N(2)O formation. The dimer is stabilized by bond formation between one O atom of the dimer and two Pt step atoms. The overall mechanism has a low barrier of approximately 0.32 eV. The mechanism is also put into the context of the overall NO + H(2) reaction. A consideration of the step-wise hydrogenation of O(ads) from the step is also presented. Removal of O(ads) from the step is significantly different from O(ads) hydrogenation on Pt(111). The energetically favored structure at the transition state for OH(ads) formation has an activation energy of 0.63 eV. Further hydrogenation of OH(ads) has an activation energy of 0.80 eV.     

Steady-state radiolysis and product analysis of aqueous diphenyloxide in the presence of air and N2O

The radiation-induced decomposition and product analysis of diphenyloxide (DPO; diphenylether), selected as a representative of the toxic polyaromatic, volatile, hydrocarbons produced by combustion of coal, was investigated in aqueous solution. In the presence of air an initial degradation yield, G_i(-DPO)0=4.6 was obtained. Phenol (G_i=1.3) appeared to be the major decomposition product in addition to a number of hydroxy-compounds as well as a mixture of aldehydes and carboxylic acids. DPO as well as the resulting products can be decomposed at an absorbed radiation dose of about 5 kGy.By performing analogous studies in solution saturated with N₂O an initial yield of G_i(-DPO)=5.0 and similar radiolytic products were found. Again phenol (G_i=1.5) is observed as the main product. In this case a much lower radiation dose (∼2.5 kGy) is found to be sufficient for the decomposition of DPO and its radiolytic products. Most likely reaction mechanisms are presented for explanation of the observed products.     

Potentially important nighttime heterogeneous chemistry: NO3 with aldehydes and N2O5 with alcohols

We report the first measurements of the reactive uptake of NO(3) with condensed-phase aldehydes. Specifically, we studied NO(3) uptake on solid tridecanal and the uptake on liquid binary mixtures containing tridecanal and saturated organic molecules (diethyl sebacate, dioctyl sebacate, and squalane) which we call matrix molecules. Uptake on the solid was shown to be efficient, where γ = (1.6 ± 0.8) × 10(-2). For liquid binary mixtures the reactivity of aldehyde depended on the matrix molecule. Assuming a bulk reaction, H(matrix)√(D(matrix)k(2°,aldehyde)) varied by a factor of 2.6, and assuming a surface reaction H(matrix)(S)K(matrix)(S)k(2°,aldehyde)(S) varied by a factor of 2.9, where H(matrix)√(D(matrix)k(2°,aldehyde)) and H(matrix)(S)K(matrix)(S)k(2°,aldehyde)(S) are constants extracted from the data using the resistor model. By assuming either a bulk or surface reaction, the atmospheric lifetimes for aldehydes were estimated to range from 1.9-7.5 h. We also carried out detailed studies of N(2)O(5) uptake kinetics on alcohols. We show that uptake coefficients of N(2)O(5) for five different organics at 293 K varied by more than 2 orders of magnitude, ranging from 3 × 10(-4) to 1.8 × 10(-2). We show that the uptake coefficients correlate with √(D(alcohol)(OH concentration)) but more work is needed with other alcohols to completely understand the dependence. Using this kinetic data we show that the atmospheric lifetime of alcohols with respect to N(2)O(5) heterogeneous chemistry can vary from 0.6-130 h, depending on the physical and chemical properties of the organic liquid.     

Contrasting chemiluminescent metal oxide formation: In the single collision reactions of boron with O2, NO2, N2O,O3 and ClO2

An intense source has been developed to study the reactions of boron (²P) atoms with O₂, NO₂, N₂O, ClO₂, and O₃. The chemiluminescent emissions which characterize the bimolecular reaction of boron with O₂, N₂O, ClO₂, and O₃ are dominated by the A ²Π-X ²Σ⁺ band system of BO. In contrast the chemiluminescence from the boron- NO₂ reaction is dominated by strong BO₂ A ²Π_u-X ²Σ_g emission.     

H_2O_2氧化N_2生成N_2O和H_2O机理的研究

采用量子化学计算方法研究了Ｈ２Ｏ２ 氧化Ｎ２ 生成Ｎ２Ｏ 和Ｈ２Ｏ 的机理．结果发现, Ｈ２Ｏ２ 氧化Ｎ２ 先通过１ 个四元环过渡态形成中间体Ｈ２Ｎ２Ｏ２ 分子,Ｈ２Ｎ２Ｏ２ 再通过一个五元环过渡态形成Ｎ２Ｏ和Ｈ２Ｏ．根据计算得到的每步反应的活化能,得知Ｈ２Ｏ２ 氧化Ｎ２ 生成中间体Ｈ２Ｎ２Ｏ２ 分子是整个反应的控制步骤．     

Ionization of O3 in Excess N2: A New Route to N2O via Intermediate N2O3+ Complexes

No Abstract     

Modeling hydrate formation conditions in the presence of electrolytes and polar inhibitor solutions

In this paper, a new predictive model is proposed for prediction of gas hydrate formation conditions in the presence of single and mixed electrolytes and solutions containing both electrolyte and a polar inhibitor such as monoethylene glycol (MEG), diethylene glycol (DEG) and triethylene glycol (TEG). The proposed model is based on the γ–φ approach, which uses modified Patel–Teja equation of state (VPT EOS) for characterizing the vapor phase, the solid solution theory by van der Waals and Platteeuw for modeling the hydrate phase, the non-electrolyte NRTL-NRF local composition model and Pitzer–Debye–Huckel equation as short-range and long-range contributions to calculate water activity in single electrolyte solutions. Also, the Margules equation was used to determine the activity of water in solutions containing polar inhibitor (glycols). The model predictions are in acceptable agreement with experimental data. For single electrolyte solutions, the model predictions are similar to available models, while for mixtures of electrolytes and mixtures of electrolytes and inhibitors, the proposed model gives significantly better predictions. In addition, the absolute average deviation of hydrate formation pressures (AADP) for 144 experimental data in solutions containing single electrolyte is 5.86% and for 190 experimental data in mixed electrolytes solutions is 5.23%. Furthermore, the proposed model has an AADP of 14.13%, 5.82% and 5.28% in solutions containing (Electrolyte + MEG), (Electrolyte + DEG) and (Electrolyte + TEG), respectively.     

Depletion kinetics of low-lying states of tungsten in the presence of NO,N2O,and SO2

The gas-phase reactivities of W(a⁵D_J, a⁷S₃) with N₂O, SO₂, and NO in the temperature range of 295–573 K are reported. Tungsten atoms produced by the photodissociation of W(CO)₆. The tungsten atoms were detected by a laser-induced fluorescence technique. The removal rate constants for the 6s²5d⁴ a⁵D_l states were found to be pressure dependent for all of the reactants. Removal rate constants for the 6s¹5d⁵ a⁷S₃ state were found to be fast compared to the a⁵D_J states and often approached the gas kinetic rate constant. The reaction rates for all the states were found to be pressure independent with respect to the total pressure. Results are discussed in terms of the different electronic configurations of the states of tungsten © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 29: 367–375 1997