Conversion of nitrous oxide to nitrogen by cobalt-substituted myoglobin

Abstract

Developing technology to decrease greenhouse gas emissions is one of the greatest challenges we face in the 21^st century. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is an important greenhouse gas, which is estimated to contribute 6% of the overall global warming effect. Herein we report the use of cobalt substituted heme proteins to reduce N₂O to nitrogen (N₂). This catalysis was electrochemically driven using methyl viologen or benzyl viologen as electron transfer partners for cobalt myoglobin. Using bulk electrolysis we demonstrated the production of ¹⁵N₂ from ¹⁵N₂. This catalysis, however, was noted to be poor, most likely due to oxidative damage to the protein scaffold.