Compounds

Although the other applications are important, by far the greatest bulk of elemental nitrogen is consumed in the manufacture of nitrogen compounds. The triple bond between atoms in the nitrogen molecules is so strong (226 kilocalories per mole, more than twice that of molecular hydrogen) that it is difficult to cause molecular nitrogen to enter into other combinations.

The chief commercial method of fixing nitrogen (incorporating elemental nitrogen into compounds) is the Haber-Bosch process for synthesizing ammonia. This process was developed during World War I to lessen the dependence of Germany on Chilean nitrate. It involves the direct synthesis of ammonia from its elements.

Large quantities of nitrogen are used together with hydrogen to produce ammonia, NH₃, a colourless gas with a pungent, irritating odour. The chief commercial method of synthesizing ammonia is the Haber-Bosch process. Ammonia is one of the two principal nitrogen compounds of commerce; it has numerous uses in the manufacture of other important nitrogen compounds. A large portion of commercially synthesized ammonia is converted into nitric acid (HNO₃) and nitrates, which are the salts and esters of nitric acid. Ammonia is used in the ammonia-soda process (Solvay process) to produce soda ash, Na₂CO₃. Ammonia is also used in the preparation of hydrazine, N₂H₄, a colourless liquid used as a rocket fuel and in many industrial processes.

Nitric acid is another popular commercial compound of nitrogen. A colourless, highly corrosive liquid, it is much used in the production of fertilizers, dyes, drugs, and explosives. Urea (CH₄N₂O) is the most common source of nitrogen in fertilizers. Ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃), a salt of ammonia and nitric acid, is also used as a nitrogenous component of artificial fertilizers and, combined with fuel oil, as an explosive (ANFO).

With oxygen, nitrogen forms several oxides, including nitrous oxide, N₂O, in which nitrogen is in the +1 oxidation state; nitric oxide, NO, in which it is in the +2 state; and nitrogen dioxide, NO₂, in which it is in the +4 state. Many of the nitrogen oxides are extremely volatile; they are prime sources of pollution in the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, is sometimes used as an anesthetic; when inhaled it produces mild hysteria. Nitric oxide reacts rapidly with oxygen to form brown nitrogen dioxide, an intermediate in the manufacture of nitric acid and a powerful oxidizing agent utilized in chemical processes and rocket fuels.

Also of some importance are certain nitrides, solids formed by direct combination of metals with nitrogen, usually at elevated temperatures. They include hardening agents produced when alloy steels are heated in an atmosphere of ammonia, a process called nitriding. Those of boron, titanium, zirconium, and tantalum have special applications. One crystalline form of boron nitride (BN), for example, is nearly as hard as diamond and less easily oxidized and so is useful as a high-temperature abrasive.

The inorganic cyanides contain the group CN⁻. Hydrogen cyanide, or formonitrile, HCN, is a highly volatile and extremely poisonous gas that is used in fumigation, ore concentration, and various other industrial processes. Cyanogen, or oxalonitrile, (CN)₂, is also used as a chemical intermediate and a fumigant.

Azides, which may be either inorganic or organic, are compounds that contain three nitrogen atoms as a group, represented as (―N₃). Most azides are unstable and highly sensitive to shock. Some of them, such as lead azide, Pb(N₃)₂, are used in detonators and percussion caps. The azides, like the halogen compounds, readily react with other substances by displacement of the so-called azide group and yield many kinds of compounds.

Nitrogen forms many thousands of organic compounds. Most of the known varieties may be regarded as derived from ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, cyanogen, and nitrous or nitric acid. The amines, amino acids, and amides, for example, are derived from or closely related to ammonia. Nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose are esters of nitric acid. Nitro compounds are obtained from the reaction (called nitration) between nitric acid and an organic compound. Nitrites are derived from nitrous acid (HNO₂). Nitroso compounds are obtained by the action of nitrous acid on an organic compound. Purines and alkaloids are heterocyclic compounds in which nitrogen replaces one or more carbon atoms.