Discovery of a synthetic catalyst for anaerobic ammonium oxidation
May 27, 2024
Expected to contribute to developing new wastewater treatment technologies and studying the origin of life
A cooperative research team of Tokyo Institute of Technology, the RIKEN CSRS, and the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science has found that covellite, a copper sulfide mineral existing in anaerobic environments, can drive ammonium oxidation, a reaction previously known only in microbial processes.
Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is a microbial process that activates ammonium with nitrite to produce N2 gas. It was identified in bacteria living in a drainage facility in 1995. This process is significant because it is associated with removing nearly 50% of nitrogen fixed in marine environments on Earth. Despite being explored for about 30 years, synthetic catalysts that can activate the anammox reaction have yet to be developed. The research team investigated the catalytic activity of 37 types of minerals and found that copper sulfide specifically catalyzes the anammox reaction. A more detailed examination of the reaction mechanism revealed that a copper sulfide mineral reproduces an entire biological anammox pathway catalyzed by three metalloenzymes. These findings provide a new route to activate ammonium. They could also significantly impact the development of new wastewater treatment technologies and the study of the origin of life, in which nitrogen compounds, such as amino acids and nucleobases, play an essential role.
- Original article
- Nature Chemistry doi: 10.1038/s41557-024-01537-6
- D. He, K. Adachi, D. Hashizume, R. Nakamura,
- "Copper sulfide mineral performs nonenzymatic anaerobic ammonium oxidation through a hydrazine intermediate".
- Contact
- Ryuhei Nakamura
Team Leader
Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team
