The processes related to the fixation of nitrogen in a catalyst able to produce glycine and alanine from a N₂, CO₂ and CH₄ gas mixture at mild reaction conditions have been studied by combining experimental and theoretical investigations. Results have allowed to understand the role of different elements of the catalyst, which is constituted by permanently polarized hydroxyapatite (p-HAp), zirconia, and aminotris(methylenephosphonic acid) (ATMP). ATMP attracts N₂ molecules towards the surface, maintaining them close to the zirconia and p-HAp components that are the most active from a catalytic point of view. On the other hand, the associative mechanism is thermodynamically favoured under mild reaction conditions with respect to the dissociative one, which is limited by the barrier associated to the N–N bond cleavage. Because this reaction mechanism is similar to that employed in the nitrogen fixation by nitrogenase enzymes, these findings provide an opportunity to design new bioinspired catalysts.

通过结合实验和理论研究，研究了与氮固定在能够在温和的反应条件下由N ₂，CO ₂和CH ₄气体混合物生产甘氨酸和丙氨酸的催化剂中的固氮相关的方法。结果使人们了解了催化剂的不同元素的作用，该元素由永久极化的羟基磷灰石（p-HAp），氧化锆和氨基三（亚甲基膦酸）（ATMP）构成。ATMP吸引N ₂分子朝向表面，使其与氧化锆和p-HAp组分接近，从催化的角度看，它们最活跃。另一方面，在温和的反应条件下，相对于离解性，在热力学上有利于缔合机理，这受与N–N键断裂相关的障碍的限制。由于该反应机理与固氮酶酶固氮所用的机理相似，因此这些发现为设计新型生物启发性催化剂提供了机会。