Gmelin Handbook of Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry

The volume describes nitrogen-oxygen compounds with the O : N ratio = 2.5 such as N2O5, NO3, NO-3, and other less known species. The first two compounds have attracted considerable interest in recent years, when their important role in atmospheric chemistry became known. The description of the chemistry and physics of these compounds covers about 200 pages. The third major chapter is devoted to the nitrate ion NO-3 and its properties in aqueous solutions, in the solid and molten state, in frozen solutions, and in the gas phase. The peroxynitrite ion ONOO- was recently recognized to play a role in the human organism as a potential precursor of the toxic hydroxyl radical.