Lithium compounds alkali metal ionic liquids

Alkali metals are produced commercially by reduction of their chloride salts, although the exact procedure differs for each element. Both lithium metal and sodium metal are produced by electrolysis, a process in which an electric current is passed through the molten salt. The details of the process won t be discussed until Sections 18.11 and 18.12, but the fundamental idea is simply to use electrical energy to break down an ionic compound into its elements. A high reaction temperature is necessary to keep the salt liquid. 

The only compound formed by alkali metals and nitrogen being stable in contact with the liquid metal is lithium nitride, LisN. This compound is formed by an exothermal reaction of elemental nitrogen with lithium metal The nitride can be considered to have a typical ionic structure, N being coordinated by 8 Li ions in a regular way. LijN has a hexagonal structure with a = 0.365 nm, c = 0.387 nm, Z = 1 and the space group P6/mmm... 

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