Structure and Preparation
Sodium azide is an ionic solid. Two crystalline forms are known, rhombohedral and hexagonal. The azide anion is very similar in each, being centrosymmetric with NāN distances of 1.18 Ć . The Na+ ion is pentacoordinated.
The common synthesis method is the "Wislicenus process," which proceeds in two steps from ammonia. In the first step, ammonia is converted to sodium amide:
- 2 Na + 2 NH3 ā 2 NaNH2 + H2
The sodium amide is subsequently combined with nitrous oxide:
- 2 NaNH2 + N2O ā NaN3 + NaOH + NH3
Alternatively the salt can be obtained by the reaction of sodium nitrate with sodium amide.
Read more about this topic: Sodium Azide
Famous quotes containing the words structure and/or preparation:
“Why does philosophy use concepts and why does faith use symbols if both try to express the same ultimate? The answer, of course, is that the relation to the ultimate is not the same in each case. The philosophical relation is in principle a detached description of the basic structure in which the ultimate manifests itself. The relation of faith is in principle an involved expression of concern about the meaning of the ultimate for the faithful.”
—Paul Tillich (1886–1965)
“Living each day as a preparation for the next is an exciting way to live. Looking forward to something is much more fun than looking back at something—and much more constructive. If we can prepare ourselves so that we never have to think, “Oh, if I had only known, if I had only been ready,” our lives can really be the great adventure we so passionately want them to be.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)