Preparation and Kinetic Properties of Intermediates in the Reaction of Hemoglobin with Ligands

The nitric oxide derivatives of isolated α and β hemoglobin chains have been prepared. By taking advantage of the very slow dissociation of NO, compounds containing the species (αNO - β) or (α - βNO) have been obtained by mixing NO chains with their deoxygenated partners. The kinetics of the reaction with carbon monoxide of the compounds, which may be regarded as intermediates in the reaction of hemoglobin with ligands, has been studied; it was found that both systems (αNO + β) and (α + βNO) behave similarly to fully unliganded hemoglobin.