The reactivity of 12 nitrogen compounds with different organic functions (nitro, nitrite, nitrate, oxime, isocyanate, amide, amine, nitrile) was investigated over a 1%Pt/
δ-Al
2O
3 catalyst (mean metal particle size, 20 nm) in oxygen excess conditions (5%O
2 + 5%H
2O). Two series of experiments, at temperatures ranging from 150 to 500 °C, were carried out: (i) decomposition of the N compounds without any addition of NO and (ii) reduction of NO by these compounds. The results were compared with the
catalytic behavior of the Pt
catalyst in NO reduction by propene. Some of the N compounds as well as oxygenated products were identified by GC-MS in the NO + C
3H
6 reaction. The nitrogen organic intermediates could be classified into two groups: (i) class 1 compounds, which react with NO at relatively high temperatures (300 °C) with a high selectivity to N
2 (nitro, nitrite, nitrate, nitrile), and (ii) class 2 compounds, which reduce NO in the same temperature range as propene (200–
225 °C) with a selectivity of
J-4KV8TJY-2&_mathId=mml10&_user=10&_cdi=6852&_rdoc=5&_handle=V-WA-A-W-WD-MsSWYWW-UUA-U-AAZCBUBWEW-AAZWYYVUEW-VBBWWAZZ-WD-U&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_userid=10&md5=03307c38263f0d76efb2c2a1f92d2db6" title="Click to view the MathML source">≈50% close to that of NO reduction by propene (oximes, amides, amines, and, to a lesser extent, isocyanate). A mechanism is proposed in which oxime species play a key role in NO reduction. N
2O would be produced mainly by a Nef reaction (leading to ketones and N
2O), whereas N
2 would be formed by successive steps starting with a Beckmann rearrangement of oxime species, with the byproducts of the N
2 formation being acids, alcohols, and nitrato and nitrito species.