Trinitrogen Compounds

Other common name Hydrazoic acid Systematic name Hydrogen trinitride Other names Azoimide, hydronitric acid, triazadiene 

Hydrogen Azide and Azides, in Bailar, J. C. Emeleus, H. J. Nyholm, R. Trotman-Dickensen, A. F. Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 2, Pergamon, Oxford 1973, pp. 276/93. 

Hydrogen Azide, in Mellor s Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry, Vol. 8, Suppl. 2, Longmans, London 1967, pp. 1/15. 

Pure hydrogen azide is a highly explosive, colorless liquid of unbearably acrid odor at ambient temperature. Explosions seem to be triggered by shocks. Aqueous solutions of less than about 20 wt% of HN3 do not detonate. Inhalation of the highly toxic vapors in small quantities causes the blood pressure to drop and irritates the mucous membranes. Contact with the aqueous solution damages the skin. 

HN3 is prepared by acidification of alkali azides, which can substitute it in many reactions. The acid strength of HN3 is similar to that of acetic acid. HN3 is used in organic reactions, either as a reactant, for example in additions to unsaturated bonds, or as an inhibitor of side reactions, for example by liberating nitrite. The application of HN3 for generating lasing species was also tested. Early work on HN3 is described in Stickstoff 2, 1935, pp. 285/303. 

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The major portion of this volume is taken up by hydrogen azide or hydrazoic acid, HN3, the first member in the series of trinitrogen compounds. Known to be highly explosive in pure form, it can be safely handled when diluted. Thus, a great deal of information is available mainly on its properties as a chemical reagent and its decomposition processes. 

Polar compounds appear to be the active constituents of Nauclea latifolia [58]. S. decussata contains the only glucoindole alkaloid isolated from Strychnos of Madagascar [12], together with trinitrogenated alkaloids. It is possible that similar glucoindole alkaloids may be present in other Strychnos species of Madagascar and may be responsible for their reported antimalarial activity. These hydrophilic compounds... 

The systematic names of the binary fluorine-nitrogen compounds are only used for a few substances, whereas the organic substitutional type of nomenclature is widely used. Thus, NF3 is called by its systematic name nitrogen trifluoride (and not trifluoroamine), but N2F4 is generally named tetrafluorohydrazine instead of dinitrogen tetrafluoride and N3F fluorine azide instead of trinitrogen fluoride. Subsequently, there are sometimes up to three names for... 

The second part Fluorine and Nitrogen deals with the binary fluorine-nitrogen compounds. They are subdivided on the basis of the number of nitrogen atoms per molecule. Thus, species such as NFJ, NF3, NF2, and NF are considered first followed by the dinitrogen and trinitrogen fluorides N2F4, N2F2, and N3F and related ions. 

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