No abstract

Nitric oxide reductase (NOR) is the third of the four enzymes of bacterial denitrification that is responsible for the catalytic formation of laughing gas (N2O). Here we report on the formation of the hyponitrite (HO‐N=N‐O−) species (νN‐N=1332 cm−1) in the heme b3 Fe/non‐heme FeB dinuclear center of NOR from Paracoccus denitrificans. With the identification of the hyponitrite species the mechanism for the 2e−/2H+ reduction of NO to N2O can be described with more certainty.This work was financially supported by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation grant TEXNOLOGIA/THEPIS/0609(BE)/05.