Some data on the computed transition states for the case
of N2O decomposition on Fe3+ are presented in table 2.
The electronic structure of N2O moiety in the transition state
strongly resembles that of an N2O− ion. This suggests that
N–O bond cleavage is achieved by electron donation from
the metal to N2O. From this observation one can conclude
that electron-donor ligands coordinated to the metal should
facilitate the N2O dissociation. Indeed, our calculations of
the reaction catalysed by the Fe(OH)3 site, which differs
from other models presented here by the absence of two water ligands, showed the increase in the activation energy by
40 kJ/mol. The calculated activation energy for the reaction
(2) on a Fe site, 41 kJ/mol, agrees very well with experimental
values 40–45 kJ/mol reported in [8]. The experimental
values correspond to the low-temperature oxidation
of Fe/ZSM-5 by N2O.