This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (September 2023) |
Polynitrides are solid chemical compounds with a large amount of nitrogen, beyond what would be expected from valencies. Some with N2 ions are termed pernitrides. Azides are not considered polynitrides, although pentazolates are.
They are formed at high pressures and mostly at high temperature. Many are stable under high pressure, but some are metastable when decompressed to standard conditions. They are high energy density materials, capable of exploding with high power. Some are very hard, almost as strong as diamond.
Nitrogen anions can take the form of diazenide [N2−2], pentazolate [N−5], 1-dimensional chains [N2−4], hexazine dianion [N2−6], pernitride N4−2 and even include dinitrogen molecules.
| Formula | Crystallography | Properties | References | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empirical | Structural | Notes | Crystal | Space group |
Unit cell (Å) | Formula units (Z) |
Volume (Å3) |
Density (g·cm−3) |
At pressure (GPa) |
Lowest observed pressure (GPa) |
Comments | ||
| LiN | [Li+]2[N2−2] | diazenide | orthorhombic | Immm | a=3.1181 b=4.4372 c=10.7912 | 8 | 149.30 | 0 | 0 | black, metallic luster | |||
| orthorhombic | Cmcm | a=3.819 b=6.471 c=3.446 | 8 | 85.16 | 73.6 | 112(19) | 19.0 | ||||||
| LiN2 | Li+N−2 | N−2 dimers | hexagonal | P63/mmc | a=2.631 c=7.615 | 2 | 45.64 | 21.2 | 63(4) | 4.6 | white | ||
| LiN5 | Li+N−5 | pentazolate | monoclinic | P2 | a=3.808 b=3.838 c=2.410
β=99.84° |
1 | 34.70 | 73.6 | 0 73.6 (XRD) |
||||
| tr-BeN4 | Be2+[poly-N2−4] | 1D chains, N4 torsion angle = 17.1° | triclinic | P1 | a=3.275 b=4.212 c=3.704
α=103.43º β=105.61º γ=111.86º |
1 | 42.4 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| triclinic | P1 | a=2.4062 b=3.5119 c=3.506
α=104.29° β=111.39° γ=96.71° |
1 | 26.02 | 83.5 | ||||||||
| m-BeN4 | 2D infinite sheets of fused N10 rings | monoclinic | P21/c | a=3.283 b=3.2765 c=4.8185
β=99.67° |
2 | 51.10 | 96.8 | 96.8 | |||||
| Amm2-CN6 | 2D | Amm2 | |||||||||||
| Amm2-CN10 | 2D | Amm2 | |||||||||||
| NaN2 | Na+N−2 | N−2 dimers | tetragonal | P4/mmm | a=3.001 c=4.101 | 1 | 36.93 | 4.0 | 2.8 | black, metallic luster | |||
| Na3N8 | [Na+]3[N23/4−]4 | N20.75- dimers | tetragonal | I41/amd | a=4.9597 c=16.29 | 4 | 400.7 | 27.6 | 7.7 | black, metallic luster | |||
| Na2N5 | [Na+]2[N2−5] | pentazolate-derived dianion | monoclinic | Pm | a=4.781 b=2.5873 c=4.934
β=119.6° |
1 | 53.1 | 50.0 | 18 (Raman) | ||||
| NaN5 | Na+N−5 | pentazolate | orthorhombic | Pmn21 | a=5.455 b=2.836 c=5.662 | 2 | 87.6 | 52.9 | 12 (Raman)
25 (XRD) |
||||
| NaN7 | Na+N−5·N2 | pentazolate | monoclinic | P21/n | a=10.321 b=8.672 c=11.0409
β=91.70° |
16 | 987.8 | 52.9 | 40 | ||||
| α-Mg2N4 | [Mg2+]2[a'-N4−4][b'-N4−4] | cis-tetranitrogen tetraanion | monoclinic | P21/n | a=7.5182 b=6.5426 c=13.4431
β=130.080° |
2 | 505.95 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| β-Mg2N4 | [Mg2+]2[a-N4−4][b-N4−4] | cis-tetranitrogen tetraanion | monoclinic | P21/n | a=7.114 b=5.824 c=8.804
β=104.04° |
2 | 354.0 | 58.5 | 2.3 | ||||
| MgN4 | Mg2+[poly-N2−4] | 1D chains, N4 torsion angle = 0° isoelectronic to polythiazyl cis-polyacetylene geometry |
orthorhombic | Ibam | a=3.5860 b=7.526 c=5.1098 | 1 | 137.90 | 58.5 | 0.9 (Raman) 58.5 (XRD) |
: Figure S3 | |||
| SiN2 | Si4+N4−2 | pernitride | cubic | Pa3 | a=4.1205 | 4 | 69.96 | 5.327 | 140 | 140 | |||
| K3N8 | [K+]3[N23/4−]4 |
|
tetragonal | I41/amd | a=5.331 c=17.552 | 4 | 498.8 | 27 | 27 | reflective | |||
| K2N6 | [K+]2[N2−6] | planar hexazine dianion | hexagonal | P6/mmm | a=5.281 c=2.661 | 1 | 64.27 | 50 |
|
reflective | |||
| K9N56 | [K+]18[N4−6][N−5]14·18N2 |
|
orthorhombic | Ibam | a=5.2380 b=34.560 c=23.205 | 8 | 4200.7 | 61 | 32 | ||||
| Sc2N6 | triclinic | P1 | a=2.9170 b=4.328 c=4.812 α=99.36 β=104.29 γ=99.52 | 1 | 56.73 | 5.093 | 78 | metallic | |||||
| Sc2N8 | monoclinic | P21/c | a=3.3278 b=5.6802 c=7.3964 β=98.905° | 2 | 138.13 | 4.857 | metallic | ||||||
| ScN5 | monoclinic | P21/m | a=3.3225 b=6.440 c=3.7067 β=104.34 | 2 | 76.84 | 4.971 | indirect semiconductor | ||||||
| Sc4N3 | cubic | Fm3m | a= 4.2492 | 4 | 233.9 | 6.301 | 125 | ||||||
| TiN2 | Ti4+N4−2 | pernitride | tetragonal | I4/mcm | a=4.334 c=5.294 | 4 | 99.44 | 0 | 385(7) | 0 | |||
| VN2 | V4+N4−2 | pernitride | tetragonal | I4/mcm | a=4.3015 c=4.9827 | 4 | 92.195 | 5.6883 | 73.3 | 347 | 0 | ||
| MnN4 | chains | triclinic | P1 | a=3.58 b=3.70 c=5.01
α=94.2° β=111.2° γ=71.6° |
58.7 | 108 GPa | |||||||
| FeN2 | orthorhombic | Pnnm | a=4.431 b=3.722 c=2.421 | 2 | 39.93 | 58.5 | |||||||
| FeN4 | Fe2+[poly-N2−4] | 1D chains, N4 torsion angle = 36° polytetrazene geometry |
triclinic | a=2.5089 b=3.524 c=3.5409
105.08 110.26 92.03 |
1 | 28.09 | 106 | : Figure S3 | |||||
| CoN2 | orthorhombic | Pnnm | 31 GPa | 216 | |||||||||
| CoN3 | orthorhombic | Pnma | a=2.555 b=3.463 c=10.655 | 90-120 GPa | |||||||||
| CoN5 | monoclinic | C2/c | a=4.951 b=6.910 c=8.062 β=95.77 | 90-120 GPa | |||||||||
| NiN2 | pernitride | orthorhombic | Pnnm | 36 GPa | |||||||||
| NiN2 | diazenide | tetragonal | P4/mbm | ||||||||||
| ZnN4 | 1D chain | orthorhombic | Ibam | 14-130 GPa | |||||||||
| YN6 | N189+ rings | 100 GPa | |||||||||||
| Y(N5)3·N2 | Y3+[N−5]3·N2 | pentazolate
nitrogen-inclusion |
monoclinic | P21/c | a=9.617 b=6.932 c=6.609
β=95.13° |
4 | 438.8 | 5.092 | 125 GPa | ||||
| Y2N11 | N-double helix | 100 GPa | |||||||||||
| Y5N14 | tetragonal | P4/mbm | a=8.451 c=4.7316 | 2 | 337.93 | 6.296 | 50 | ||||||
| Nb2N3 | orthorhombic | Pnma | a=7.897 b=2.857 c=7.660 | 4 | 8.755 | 56 GPa | |||||||
| NbN2 | tetragonal | I4mm | a=2.8365 c=11.444 | 4 | 8.723 | 80 GPa | |||||||
| NbN4 | monoclinic | P21/n | a=4.4827 b=5.4543 c=5.439
β=101.47 |
4 | 7.59 | 105:100-120 GPa | |||||||
| NbN5 | orthorhombic | Fdd2 | a=11.833 b=13.870 c=3.6001 | 16 | 7.323 | 100-120 GPa | |||||||
| RuN2 | Ru4+N4−2 | pernitride | orthorhombic | Pnnm | 0 | ||||||||
| RhN2 | Rh4+N4−2 | pernitride | orthorhombic | Pnnm | 235 | 0 | |||||||
| RhN2 | pernitride | monoclinic | P21/c | ||||||||||
| PdN2 | Pd4+N4−2 | pernitride | Pa3 | 13 | |||||||||
| AgN7 | N5 ring + N2 | P1 | 15 GPa | 5 | black | ||||||||
| AgN5 | P21/c | 15 GPa | |||||||||||
| AgN4 | P1 | 26.3 GPa | 12 | ||||||||||
| SbN4 | Sb25+N810- | N8 chains | monoclinic | P21/n | 100-120 GPa | ||||||||
| CsN5 | Cs+N−5 | pentazolate | Pbca | ||||||||||
| CsN5 | triclinic | P1 | |||||||||||
| LaN8 | N18 rings | trigonal | R3 | ||||||||||
| LaN8 | N8 cage | tetragonal | P4/n | high energy density | |||||||||
| Ce2N6 | N4 zigzags | C2/m | a=5.717 b=4.661 c=6.548
β=93.270 |
174.20 | ambient | ||||||||
| CeN4 | chains | I41/a | a=6.711 c=2.879 | 0 | |||||||||
| CeN6 | hexazine | R3m | a=5.890 c=4.108 | ||||||||||
| CeN14 | sheet | hexagonal | P6mm | a=5.748 c=2.447 | |||||||||
| CeN17 | sheet | hexagonal | P6mm | a=6.111 c=2.842 | |||||||||
| Hf2N11 | N double helix | hexagonal | P6422 | ||||||||||
| TaN4 | N4 chains | monoclinic | P21/n | 100 | |||||||||
| TaN5 | branched infinite chains | orthorhombic | Fdd2 | 100 | |||||||||
| WN8·N2 | 1 D chain, N2 molecules | orthorhombic | Immm | ||||||||||
| WN6 | N66- hexaazacyclohexane derivative | rhombohedral | R3m | ||||||||||
| ReN2 | [Re5+]2[N4−2][N3−]2 | pernitride | monoclinic | P21/c | a=3.625 b=6.407 c=4.948
β=111.48° |
0 | 330 | 0 | very hard | ||||
| ReN2 | Re4+N24- | pernitride | tetragonal | P4/mbm | 175 | ||||||||
| ReN8·N2 | 1 D chain, N2 molecules | orthorhombic | Immm | 105-130 GPa | |||||||||
| OsN2 | Os4+N4−2 | pernitride | orthorhombic | Pnnm | 358 | 0 | |||||||
| Os5N28·3N2 | 1D chain, N2 molecules | orthorhombic | Pnnm | ||||||||||
| IrN2 | Ir4+N4−2 | pernitride | monoclinic | P21/c | 428 | 0 | |||||||
| PtN2 | Pt4+N4−2 | pernitride | Pa3 | 372 | 0 | ||||||||
| PbN2 | Pb2+N2−2 | diazenide
(provisional, N2x- dimers) |
tetragonal | I4/mcm | 65 | 15 | |||||||
The poly-N42− chain is [modeled using DFT as] isotopological and isoelectronic to polythiazyl −(S2N2)x−, an inorganic metallic polymer.