Abstract:
There has been considerable interest during recent years in both naturally-occurring and synthetic oxygen-carrying compounds. Those which do occur naturally include haemoglobin from red blood cells in which the oxygen carrying molecule contains the haem group, haemocyanin from the ‘blue blood” of lobsters and crabs, which is a copper-containing compound, and the violet hemerythrin, a non-haem iron-containing protein. There also exists a series of catalysts, such as the cytochromes and the copper oxidases which interact directly with oxygen. Since the mechanisms of these reactions are not fully understood, considerable work has been achieved with synthetic oxygen carriers. Complexes of cobalt, iridium, rhenium, iron and nickel have been synthesised which form dioxygen complexes.
