Chemical and evolutionary reasons for the rarity of natural products containing nitrogen–nitrogen bonds (NN bonds) in life’s biochemical repertoire

Bains, William, Petkowski, Janusz J., Viita, Eleanor, Cruz-Simbron, Romulo L., Nautiyal, Kartik and Seager, Sara 2026. Chemical and evolutionary reasons for the rarity of natural products containing nitrogen–nitrogen bonds (NN bonds) in life’s biochemical repertoire. Scientific Reports 10.1038/s41598-026-63202-x

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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.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Physics and Astronomy
Publisher:	Nature Research
ISSN:	2045-2322
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 July 2026
Date of Acceptance:	16 July 2026
Last Modified:	30 Jul 2026 12:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/188628

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