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,