Interactions of nitric oxide and organic nitroso compounds with metalloporphyrins and heme

The chemistry of nitric oxide (NO) has taken on new dimensions since the di scovery, about a decade ago, of a myriad of biological events that NO parti cipates in. Many of the foundations of metal-NO chemistry were laid out ear lier by inorganic chemists and biochemists investigating the structures and electronic properties of the heme-NO moiety or its model compounds. Certai nly, the persistent work over the last three decades by chemists working wi th metal nitrosyls has paid off. Current areas of research in heme-NO chemi stry include (i) how the NO group approaches and binds to the metal center (or how it dissociates from the metal center); (ii) the ground state and ex cited state geometries of the metal-NO fragment; (iii) effects of the trans axial ligands on NO orientation and/or dissociation; and (iv) N-N bond for mation from NO molecules catalyzed by heme groups. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.