Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements ...

and

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

, or a mixture of such compounds:

Charge-neutral

Nitric oxide Nitric oxide (nitrogen oxide or nitrogen monoxide) is a colorless gas with the formula . It is one of the principal oxides of nitrogen. Nitric oxide is a free radical: it has an unpaired electron, which is sometimes denoted by a dot in its ...

(NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide *

Nitrogen dioxide Nitrogen dioxide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is one of several nitrogen oxides. is an intermediate in the industrial synthesis of nitric acid, millions of tons of which are produced each year for use primarily in the productio ...

(), nitrogen(IV) oxide * Nitrogen trioxide (), or nitrate radical *

Nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and ha ...

(), nitrogen(0,II) oxide * Dinitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(II) oxide

dimer Dimer may refer to: * Dimer (chemistry), a chemical structure formed from two similar sub-units ** Protein dimer, a protein quaternary structure ** d-dimer * Dimer model, an item in statistical mechanics, based on ''domino tiling'' * Julius Dimer ( ...

* Dinitrogen trioxide (), nitrogen(II,IV) oxide *

Dinitrogen tetroxide Dinitrogen tetroxide, commonly referred to as nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), and occasionally (usually among ex-USSR/Russia rocket engineers) as amyl, is the chemical compound N2O4. It is a useful reagent in chemical synthesis. It forms an equilibrium ...

(), nitrogen(IV) oxide

* Dinitrogen pentoxide (), nitrogen(V) oxide, or nitronium nitrate * Nitrosyl azide (), nitrogen(−I,0,I,II) oxide *

Nitryl azide Nitryl azide (tetranitrogen dioxide) is an unstable nitrogen oxide consisting of a covalent nitrogen–nitrogen bond between a nitro group and an azide. It has been detected by infrared spectroscopy as a short-lived product of the reaction betwee ...

() * Oxatetrazole () * Trinitramide ( or ), nitrogen(0,IV) oxide

Anions

* Nitroxide () *

Nitrite The nitrite ion has the chemical formula . Nitrite (mostly sodium nitrite) is widely used throughout chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The nitrite anion is a pervasive intermediate in the nitrogen cycle in nature. The name nitrite also ...

( or ) *

Nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are soluble in water. An example of an insolu ...

() * Peroxynitrite ( or ) *

Peroxynitrate Peroxynitrate (or peroxonitrate) refers to salts of the unstable peroxynitric acid, HNO4. Peroxynitrate is unstable and decomposes to nitrate and dioxygen. No solid peroxynitrate salts are known. However, there is a report that the Russian chemist ...

( or ) * Orthonitrate (, analogous to phosphate ) * Hyponitrite ( or ) * Trioxodinitrate or hyponitrate ( or ) * Nitroxylate ( or ) * Dinitramide ( or )

Cations

Nitrosonium The nitrosonium ion is , in which the nitrogen atom is bonded to an oxygen atom with a bond order of 3, and the overall diatomic species bears a positive charge. It can be viewed as nitric oxide with one electron removed. This ion is usually ob ...

( or ) *

Nitronium The nitronium ion, , is a cation. It is an onium ion because its nitrogen atom has +1 charge, similar to ammonium ion . It is created by the removal of an electron from the paramagnetic nitrogen dioxide molecule , or the protonation of nitri ...

( or )

Atmospheric sciences

atmospheric chemistry Atmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science in which the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets is studied. It is a multidisciplinary approach of research and draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteorol ...

: * (or NO''x'') refers to the sum of NO and . * (or NO''y'') refers to the sum of and all oxidized atmospheric odd-nitrogen species (e.g. the sum of , , , etc.) * (or NO''z'') = − Image:Nitric-oxide-3D-vdW.png, Image:Nitrogen-dioxide-3D-vdW.png, Image:Nitrous-oxide-3D-vdW.png, Image:Dinitrogen-trioxide-3D-vdW.png, Image:Dinitrogen-tetroxide-3D-vdW.png, Image:Dinitrogen-pentoxide-3D-vdW.png, Image:Trinitramide-3D-spacefill.png,

Stability

Due to relatively weak N–O bonding, all nitrogen oxides are unstable with respect to and , which is the principle behind the

catalytic converter A catalytic converter is an exhaust emission control device that converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalyzing a redox reaction. Catalytic converters are usual ...

and prevents the

combustion Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combus ...

of the atmosphere.

References