Biochemistry
The overall reaction is

4 Fe2+ – cytochrome c + 4 H+ + O2 → 4 Fe3+ – cytochrome c + 2 H2O                ΔfGo = - 218 kJ/molTwo electrons are passed from two cytochrome cs, through the CuA and cytochrome a sites to the cytochrome a3–CuB binuclear center, reducing the metals to the Fe2+ form and Cu+. The hydroxide ligand is protonated and lost as water, creating a void between the metals that is filled by O2. The oxygen is rapidly reduced, with two electrons coming from the Fe2+-cytochrome a3, which is converted to the ferryl oxo form (Fe4+=O). The oxygen atom close to CuB picks up one electron from Cu+, and a second electron and a proton from the hydroxyl of Tyr(244), which becomes a tyrosyl radical. The second oxygen is converted to a hydroxide ion by picking up two electrons and a proton. A third electron from another cytochrome c is passed through the first two electron carriers to the cytochrome a3–CuB binuclear center, and this electron and two protons convert the tyrosyl radical back to Tyr, and the hydroxide bound to CuB2+ to a water molecule.
The enzyme cytochrome c oxidase or Complex IV, (was EC 1.9.3.1, now reclassified as a translocase EC 7.1.1.9) is a large transmembrane protein complex found in bacteria, archaea, and mitochondria of eukaryotes.It is the last enzyme in the respiratory electron transport chain of cells located in the membrane. It receives an electron from each of four cytochrome c molecules and transfers them to one oxygen molecule and four protons, producing two molecules of water. In addition to binding the four protons from the inner aqueous phase, it transports another four protons across the membrane, increasing the transmembrane difference of proton electrochemical potential, which the ATP synthase then uses to synthesize ATP. Structure
The complex
The complex is a large integral membrane protein composed of several metal prosthetic sites and 14  protein subunits in mammals. In mammals, eleven subunits are nuclear in origin, and three are synthesized in the mitochondria. The complex contains two hemes, a cytochrome a and cytochrome a3, and two copper centers, the CuA and CuB centers. In fact, the cytochrome a3 and CuB form a binuclear center that is the site of oxygen reduction. Cytochrome c, which is reduced by the preceding component of the respiratory chain (cytochrome bc1 complex, Complex III), docks near the CuA binuclear center and passes an electron to it, being oxidized back to cytochrome c containing Fe3+. The reduced CuA binuclear center now passes an electron on to cytochrome a, which in turn passes an electron on to the cytochrome a3>-CuB binuclear center.