Lithium nitride, formation with metallic

H.3 Write balanced chemical equations for the following reactions (a) Sodium metal reacts with water to produce hydrogen gas and sodium hydroxide, (b) The reaction of sodium oxide, Na20, and water produces sodium hydroxide, (c) Hot lithium metal reacts in a nitrogen atmosphere to produce lithium nitride, Li3N. (d) The reaction of calcium metal with water leads to the evolution of hydrogen gas and the formation of calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2. 

Guntz recommends the formation of the nitride as a convenient means of isolating argon,9 and its interaction with metallic chlorides as a method for preparing other nitrides.10 For the heat of formation he found 49 5 Cal.11 It is formed by the action of light on lithium imide, LigNH (p. 72) 12... 

The only reactions of molecular nitrogen at ambient temperature are the formation of lithium nitride Li3N, reactions with certain transition metal complexes, and nitrogen fixation with nitrogenase in the bacteria of the root nodules of legumes and in blue algae (Sections 14.1.1 and 14.1.2). Above 500 °C nitrogen reacts with some elements, especially with metals (nitride formation). 

The nitrogen exchange between lithium and several transition metals gives rise to the formation of binary or ternary nitrides, which show analogies with the ternary oxides formed in Na—O—Me systems . In the lithium-nitrogen-stainless steel system, nitrogen is picked-up by the stainless steel due to the getter reaction of the... 

Preparative Methods readily prepared from the reaction of PhMe2SiCl with 2 equiv of Li metal in THF or from the reaction of PhMe2SiSiMe2Ph with Li metal in THF. Typical reaction procedure involves stirring chlorodimethylphenyl-silane with lithium in THF at 0 °C under N2 for 4—36 h the chlorosilane is converted into tetramethyldiphenyldisilane in the first 10 min, and the remainder of the time is needed to cleave the disilane. The supernatant reagent solution is calibrated using standard methods and used without further purification for reactions. It is sometimes advantageous to activate the Li metal prior to use by ultrasound irradiation of a hexane suspension, and to use argon as the inert gas to prevent formation of lithium nitrides. 

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