Research on Nitrogen Fixation Processes

RESEARCH ON NITROGEN FIXATION PROCESSES 10.2.1. Impact of the Work on Biological Nitrogen Fixation 

Research on biological nitrogen fixation is just over 100 years old. In 1888 

Be that as it may, vanadium nitrogenase seems to be very similar in many ways to the classical molybdenum nitrogenase. They both consist of two air-sensitive proteins, a larger one of molecular weight ca 260,000 and a smaller one 

In the molybdenum systems, the smaller protein transfers eight electrons in eight separate steps to the larger in order to complete one catalytic cycle. This gives the stoichiometry shown in Eq. (10.1)  

The waste of two electrons in the generation of molecular hydrogen seems unavoidable, even in vivo, though some organisms possess hydrogenases which can recycle some of the dihydrogen  

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