论文部分内容阅读
大气中大约含有四千万亿吨的氮气。但是,地球上动植物的细胞却没有本领直接吸收它来转化为蛋白质、核酸等含氮的生命基础物质。迄今我们所知道的,只有自然界里的固氮微生物,能在常温常压下,高效率地固氮成氨。它们每年为地球上所有的生物提供约二亿吨的生命所必需的固定氮。微生物是怎样固氮的呢?人类能不能用化学方法模拟其中的某些原理,研制出能在温和条件下操作的固氮催化剂呢?这便是化学模拟生物固氮所要探讨的一些科学问题。
The atmosphere contains about four trillion tons of nitrogen. However, animals and plants on Earth cells do not have the ability to directly absorb it into proteins, nucleic acids and other nitrogen-containing life-based substances. So far we know that only nitrogen-fixing microorganisms in nature can efficiently nitrogen-fix ammonia at normal temperature and pressure. They provide about 200 million tons of fixed nitrogen each year for all living things on Earth. How can microorganisms fix nitrogen? Can human beings chemically simulate some of these principles and develop nitrogen-fixing catalysts that can operate under mild conditions? This is some of the scientific issues to be explored in chemical modeling of biological nitrogen fixation.