There are probably nitrous oxide reductase negative mutants available out there
which would make the second option below much more appealing.  You would have
better control of your head space in a pure culture of this type.  It would be
simple and inexpensive but further cryoseparation, chromatography or some such
similar steps would be needed if you wanted a very pure product.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dr. Reinhard Well [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2000 12:47 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      15N labeled N2O
>
> Dear Listmembers,
>
> we are planning to conduct soil incubation experiments with 15N
> labeled N2O. Can anyone recommend a simple and inexpensive
> procedure to produce a few liters of a gas mixture with highly
> enriched N2O (at least 10 ppm) in unlabeled N2? We were
> considering to use the following procedures:
> -Reduction of 15N labled NO3- to NO2- using Cu coated Cd foil and
> reduction of NO2- to N2O by adding NH2OH (Stevens & Laughlin
> 1994, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 58:1108-116).
> -Anaerobic incubation of soils amended with 15N-NO3 and C2H2 to
> produce N2O from denitrification (Lensi et al., 1985, Soil _Biol.
> Biochem. 17, 733-734) with subsequent trapping of C2H2 in
> alkaline KMnO4 (Malone et al., 1998, Soil Biol. Biochem 30, 31 -
> 37).
> Has anyone used these or other procedures to produce larger
> quantities of 15N2O?
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Reinhard