You are currently viewing the abstract.
View Full TextLog in to view the full text
AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.
Register for free to read this article
As a service to the community, this article is available for free. Existing users log in.
More options
Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.
Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.
A salty route to an all-nitrogen ring
The flip side of the robust stability of N2 is the instability of any larger molecules composed exclusively of nitrogen. These molecules nonetheless remain enticing targets for explosive and propellant applications. Zhang et al. successfully prepared the pentazolate ion, a negatively charged ring of five nitrogens, by oxidative cleavage of a C–N bond in an aryl-substituted precursor (see the Perspective by Christe). The molecule was stabilized and isolated in the solid state as a hydrated ammonium chloride salt. Spectroscopic and crystallographic characterization confirmed the ring's planar geometry.
Abstract
Pentazole (HN5), an unstable molecular ring comprising five nitrogen atoms, has been of great interest to researchers for the better part of a century. We report the synthesis and characterization of the pentazolate anion stabilized in a (N5)6(H3O)3(NH4)4Cl salt. The anion was generated by direct cleavage of the C–N bond in a multisubstituted arylpentazole using m-chloroperbenzoic acid and ferrous bisglycinate. The structure was confirmed by single-crystal x-ray diffraction analysis, which highlighted stabilization of the cyclo-N5ˉ ring by chloride, ammonium, and hydronium. Thermal analysis indicated the stability of the salt below 117°C on the basis of thermogravimetry-measured onset decomposition temperature.