Final answer:
Oxidative phosphorylation itself does not produce CO₂; it's the process of ATP production linked to the electron transport chain. CO₂ is produced during earlier stages of cellular respiration, namely the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA and the Krebs cycle.
Step-by-step explanation:
No, oxidative phosphorylation does not produce CO₂. Instead, this process involves the production of ATP by the transfer of electrons down the electron transport chain to create a proton gradient that is used by ATP synthase to add phosphate groups to ADP molecules.
During oxidative phosphorylation, oxygen is used as the final electron acceptor in the electron transport chain. This results in the formation of water when oxygen combines with protons (H⁺) and electrons (e⁻). The carbon dioxide (CO₂) that is produced in cellular respiration is actually released during the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA and during the Krebs cycle, which both occur prior to oxidative phosphorylation.