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I am designing a world in which the biological solvent is an ammonia-water mixture and need help finding out which blood pigments (Hemoglobin, Hemocyanin etc.) would be immune to the negative effects of ammonia. I couldn't find anything about this specifically on google, so I've decided to ask.

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    $\begingroup$ . Do not be constrained by what is in our world, because your world is very different from ours. Totally different molecules would be the blood pigments. $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Oct 27, 2020 at 1:43
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    $\begingroup$ Ammonia is soluble in water but would not mix - it's a gas at room temperature and water is a solid at the temperature ammonia would liquefy. You can read about ammonia solution on Wikipedia. I doubt any animal cell would tolerate it. You would need invent an entire biochemistry to use this, IMO. $\endgroup$
    – StephenG - Help Ukraine
    Oct 27, 2020 at 3:09
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    $\begingroup$ @StephenG, while most cells wouldn't cope, there are some that could. Alkaliphiles can survive at the pH of a 2% ammonia solution. $\endgroup$
    – Nyra
    Oct 27, 2020 at 3:22
  • $\begingroup$ @Nyra Didn't know that, however I get the impression the OP wants significantly more than a 2% solution. For anyone curious : WIkipedia's page on Alkaliphiles. $\endgroup$
    – StephenG - Help Ukraine
    Oct 27, 2020 at 3:55
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    $\begingroup$ Look up ammonia and sharks - there has been ammonia tolerance testing done. (dogfish shark) $\endgroup$
    – Polypipe Wrangler
    Oct 29, 2020 at 7:07

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I've come to the conclusion that none of the blood pigments we have on earth have immunity to ammonia poisoning. In fact, an ammonia-water solvent with any significant amount of ammonia isn't something that is possible in an organism unless they have completely different biochemistry from us (though our bodies do produce very small amounts of ammonia, it is processed into urea in the liver). Ammonia, when mixed with water, becomes ammonium hydroxide. Ammonium hydroxide is a caustic. Caustics destroy proteins, as shown in this link.

Basically, in order for an ammonia-water solvent to be possible, your lifeforms would need to have completely different biology from anything we have on earth.

However, that is from a purely scientific standpoint. I don't know the ins and outs of your world, or how scientifically accurate you want it to be, but you could create some component of a lifeform that counteracts the toxicity of ammonium hydroxide. Ammonium hydroxide is a fairly alkaline chemical, which is in large part the reason it's a caustic, so having another acidic chemical could help to counteract this. Or you could have a chemical that prevents ammonia and water from creating ammonium hydroxide.

These are just suggestions, however, and you can choose to ignore the chemistry if you want. This is worldbuilding, after all, not a science convention.

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    $\begingroup$ Thank you for your contribution and welcome to the site! Your answer reads like you're an experienced worldbuilder, so I have to ask, are you new? $\endgroup$
    – Alendyias
    May 17, 2021 at 16:35
  • $\begingroup$ Well, I’m flattered that I can fool people 😅. I don’t have too much experience with worldbuilding, but it’s always been fairly easy for me. $\endgroup$
    – Mrpenguin
    May 17, 2021 at 20:08
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    $\begingroup$ Cool, good for you! We all have our talents, now don't we? $\endgroup$
    – Alendyias
    May 17, 2021 at 20:28

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