how can one simple chemical, like cyanide, be so detrimental to the human body, compared to just carbon and just nitrogen?

Question

I just found it so wild that our bodies are full of carbon and nitrogen (even if as part of other chemicals. We breath, what I assume, to be molecular nitrogen. But then slap a carbon atom to a nitrogen atom and you’re screwed. Why?

In: 27

Answer 1

Cyanide inhibits the electron transport chain, preventing oxygen from being turned into water. We can just breathe out carbon dioxide, as long as we get enough oxygen. But our cells can only turn oxygen into water when they have enough glucose (or other sugars), which contains enough energy.

This is also why oxygen deprivation is so bad for your brain: your neurons burn a lot of glucose, and won’t stop until they get that sweet, sweet ATP.