What happened when carbon monoxide is dissolved in haemoglobin?
Answers
Carbon monoxide gas can cause a frightening variation of the normal hemoglobin-oxygen equilibrium when somebody is exposed to it due to the fact that the carbon monoxide tricks the hemoglobin into mistaking it for oxygen and bonds to the hemoglobin in groups of four, and the equilibrium expression becomes:
Hb (aq) + 4CO (g) ⇋ Hb(CO) 4 (aq). (1)
Carboxyhemoglobin is produced opposed to hemoglobin which appears redder thus one symptom of carbon monoxide poisoning is a red face. Hemoglobin and oxygen have weaker bonds compared to carbon monoxide and hemoglobin where the bonds are approximately 300 times stronger which means that according to the equation above, the equilibrium shifts to the right towards the carboxyhemoglobin side:
Hb (aq) + 4CO (g) –> Hb(CO) 4 (aq). (1)
The equilibrium constant, K, is much stronger in haemoglobin-carbon monoxide reaction compared to the haemoglobin-oxygen reaction which means that the haemoglobin puts priority on carbon monoxide bonds, therefore the haemoglobin that has bonded with carbon monoxide is no longer available for oxygen transportation.