SODIUM-AZIDE AS A REAGENT FOR SOLID-STATE METATHESIS PREPARATIONS OF REFRACTORY-METAL NITRIDES

Thermal initiation (similar to 300 degrees C) of a reaction between so dium azide and anhydrous metal chlorides (LaCl3, SmCl3, TiCl3, ZrCl4, HfCl4, VCl3, TaCl5, CrCl2, WCl6, and MnCl2) in sealed evacuated ampoul es rapidly produces binary metal nitrides, dinitrogen and sodium chlor ide. The metal nitrides were purified by trituration with methanol and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microsco py, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and FT-IR.