Oxygen and nitrogen actually react to form nitric oxide. > $$\ce{O2 + N2 ⇄ 2NO}$$ > > Oxygen react with nitrogen to produce nitrogen(II) oxide. This > reaction takes place at the high temperature[about 2000°C(without catalyst) ; > 1200-1300°C(with catalyst)), an overpressure and in the presence of a catalyst. > In this reaction, the catalyst is can be platinum, manganese(IV) > oxide.([Chemiday][1]) In [wikipedia article of nitric oxide][2], it is written that: > **The uncatalyzed endothermic reaction of oxygen (O2) and nitrogen (N2), which is performed at high temperature (>2000 °C)** by lightning > has not been developed into a practical commercial synthesis (see > Birkeland–Eyde process): > > $$\ce{N2 + O2 → 2 ·NO}$$ > > From a thermodynamic perspective, ·NO is unstable with respect to O2 > and N2, although this conversion is very slow at ambient temperatures > in the absence of a catalyst. Because the heat of formation of ·NO is > endothermic, **its synthesis from molecular nitrogen and oxygen > requires elevated temperatures above 1000 °C.** [1]: http://chemiday.com/en/reaction/3-1-0-694 [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitric_oxide