Nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or nitrous, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, with a slight metallic scent and taste. At elevated temperatures, nitrous oxide is a powerful oxidizer similar to molecular oxygen. It is soluble in water. Nitrous oxide has significant medical uses, especially in surgery and dentistry, for its anaesthetic and pain reducing effects. Its name "laughing gas", coined by Humphry Davy, is due to the euphoric effects upon inhaling it, a property that has led to its recreational
Nitrous-oxide reductase competent unit. The Cu center can undergo a one-electron redox change and hence has a function similar to that in the well-known aa-type cytochrome "c" oxidases () where it serves to receive an electron from soluble cytochromes "c". Acetylene is the most specific inhibitor of nitrous-oxide reductase. Other inhibitors include azide anion, thiocyanate, carbon monoxide, iodide, and cyanide. Nitrous-oxide reductase In enzymology, a nitrous oxide reductase also known as nitrogen:acceptor oxidoreductase (NO-forming) is an enzyme that catalyzes the final step in bacterial denitrification, the reduction of nitrous oxide to dinitrogen. It plays a critical role in preventing release of a