The aerobic onia idation process is also know, as the ANAMMOX process, an abbreviation coined by joining the first syllables of each of these three words. This biological process is a redox comproportionation reaction, in which ammonia (the reducing agent giving electrons) and nitrite (the oxidizing agent accepting electrons) transfer three electrons and are converted into one molecule of diatomic nitrogen () gas and two water molecules. This process makes up a major proportion of nitrogen conversion in the oceans. The stoichiometrically balanced formula for the ANAMMOX chemical reaction can be written as following, where an ammonium ion includes the ammonia molecule, its conjugated base:  
:  (ΔG° = ).
This an exergonic process (here also an exothermic reaction) releasing energy, as indicated by the negative value of ΔG°, the difference in Gibbs free energy between the products of reaction and the reagents.