Plasma-promoted reactions of the heterobimetallic anions CuNb- with dinitrogen and subsequent reactions with carbon dioxide: formation of C-N bonds

The activation and functionalization of dinitrogen with carbon dioxide into useful chemicals containing C-N bonds are significant research projects but highly challenging. Herein, we report that N-2 molecules are dissociated by heterobimetallic CuNb- anions assisted by surface plasma radiation, leading to the formation of CuNbN2- anions; the CuNbN2- anions can further react with CO2 to generate products NCO- with one C-N bond and NbO2NCN- with two C-N bonds under thermal collision conditions. For the activation of dinitrogen, the plasma atmosphere is conducive to the dissociation of the NRN bond, which renders the coupling reactions of N-2 and CO2 molecules easier to proceed. This is the first report of coupling of N-2 and CO2 to generate C-N bonds by making good use of the plasma effect to assist in the activation of N-2 molecules. This new strategy with the assistance of plasma provides a practicable route to construct C-N bonds by directly using N-2 and CO2 at room temperature.

Automated summary

In this study, we report the activation of N-2 and CO2 into chemicals containing C-N bonds with the assistance of plasma-generated CuNb- heterobimetallic anions. This new strategy provides a feasible route for constructing C-N bonds directly at room temperature using N-2 and CO2.