Chemical and evolutionary reasons for the rarity of natural products containing nitrogen–nitrogen bonds (NN bonds) in life’s biochemical repertoire
5 affiliations
- 1School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University
- 2Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology
- 3Technology of Materials for Environmental Remediation (TecMARA) Research Group, Faculty of Sciences, National University of Engineering
- 4Data Science Department, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- 5Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Understanding the chemistry of life is a central motivation of biological research. This includes understanding why life does not use particular chemical structures. Compounds containing a bond between two nitrogen atoms (NN bonds) are relatively rare in the chemicals made by life. We quantify that rarity, and explore possible reasons for it. We find that the main limitation on the use of NN compounds in biochemistry could be the toxicity of NN bond containing metabolic intermediates in their biosynthesis. The potential toxicity of the final NN compound metabolites, the energy required for their synthesis, and differences in the functional benefit from their synthesis may play additional, minor roles in explaining the NN bond rarity in biochemistry. Our study adds to a growing body of work that aims to map and explain the constraints behind life choices in chemical space.
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BibTeX
@article{bains2026chemical,
title = {{Chemical and evolutionary reasons for the rarity of natural products containing nitrogen–nitrogen bonds (NN bonds) in life’s biochemical repertoire}},
author = {William Bains and Janusz J. Petkowski and Eleanor Viita and Romulo L. Cruz-Simbron and Kartik Nautiyal and Sara Seager},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-63202-x},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63202-x},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Chemical and evolutionary reasons for the rarity of natural products containing nitrogen–nitrogen bonds (NN bonds) in life’s biochemical repertoire
AU - William Bains
AU - Janusz J. Petkowski
AU - Eleanor Viita
AU - Romulo L. Cruz-Simbron
AU - Kartik Nautiyal
AU - Sara Seager
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-63202-x
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63202-x
AB - Understanding the chemistry of life is a central motivation of biological research. This includes understanding why life does not use particular chemical structures. Compounds containing a bond between two nitrogen atoms (NN bonds) are relatively rare in the chemicals made by life. We quantify that rarity, and explore possible reasons for it. We find that the main limitation on the use of NN compounds in biochemistry could be the toxicity of NN bond containing metabolic intermediates in their biosynthesis. The potential toxicity of the final NN compound metabolites, the energy required for their synthesis, and differences in the functional benefit from their synthesis may play additional, minor roles in explaining the NN bond rarity in biochemistry. Our study adds to a growing body of work that aims to map and explain the constraints behind life choices in chemical space.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -