SYNTHESIS AND NEUTRON-DIFFRACTION STUDY OF NA3WN3 AND NA3MON3

We have used our ambient pressure method for the synthesis of ternary alkali metal nitrides to synthesize a new class of nitrides, Na3MN3 (M = Mo or W). These compounds were synthesized from the metal nitride a nd NaNH2 at 500-degrees-C under flowing ammonia at atmospheric pressur e. The structures were examined using X-ray powder diffraction and neu tron powder diffraction and were found to be identical with that obtai ned from the single crystal prepared at high pressure by Ostermann, Za chwieja, and Jacobs. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.