Abstract
L. ANDRUSSOW (Ber. 59, 458, 1926) has suggested a scheme of reaction for the oxidation of ammonia in which nitroxyl, NOH, is an intermediate product. The scheme put forward by Andrussow, together with many others, were derived by the present writer some years ago when engaged in experimental work on ammonia oxidation, but none of these has been published. It seems desirable, however, to point out that the scheme put forward by Andrussow suffers from the defect that nitroxyl, NOH, if formed as an intermediate product, might be expected to break down to a considerable extent into nitrous oxide, a substance which, so far as the writer is aware, has never been detected among the products of the oxidation of ammonia. A more likely intermediate product would be nitrohydroxylamic acid, which is known to break down with formation of nitric oxide. It is suggested that the oxidation may occur in the following stages, each reaction in which is bimolecular or unimolecular:
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PARTINGTON, J. The Oxidation of Ammonia. Nature 117, 590 (1926). https://doi.org/10.1038/117590c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/117590c0
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