New nitrogen products are in the air

Date:
August 12, 2020
Source:
Yale University
Summary:
Researchers have found a way to combine atmospheric nitrogen with
benzene to make a chemical compound called aniline, which is a
precursor to materials used to make an assortment of synthetic
products.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A nifty move with nitrogen has brought the world one step closer to
creating a range of useful products -- from dyes to pharmaceuticals --
out of thin air.


==========================================================================
The discovery comes from a team of Yale chemists who found a way to
combine atmospheric nitrogen with benzene to make a chemical compound
called aniline, which is a precursor to materials used to make an
assortment of synthetic products.

A study describing the process appears in the journal Nature.

"In the long run, we hope to learn how to use the abundant nitrogen in
the air as a resource for synthesizing the products needed by society,"
said Yale chemistry professor Patrick Holland, senior author of the study.

Much attention has been focused on "nitrogen fixation," a process by
which atmospheric nitrogen is used to create ammonia. But as Holland
and his colleagues point out, there are many other compounds, materials,
and processes that could use nitrogen in other forms -- if researchers
can find ways to make them with atmospheric nitrogen.

Holland said previous attempts by other researchers to combine
atmospheric nitrogen and benzene failed. Those attempts used highly
reactive derivatives of benzene that would degrade before they could
produce a chemical reaction with nitrogen.

Holland and his colleagues used an iron compound to break down one of
the chemical bonds in benzene. They also treated the nitrogen with a
silicon compound that allowed the nitrogen to combine with benzene.

"Fundamentally, we're showing a new way of thinking about how to
encourage nitrogen to form new bonds that may be adaptable to making
other products," Holland said.

Co-first authors of the study are Sean McWilliams, who recently
received a Ph.D. from Yale and is now doing postdoctoral work at the
University of North Carolina, and Daniel Broere, a former postdoctoral
fellow in Holland's lab who is now an assistant professor at Utrecht University. Co-authors of the study are Samuel Bhutto and Brandon Mercado
of Yale, and Connor Halliday of the University of Edinburgh.

Funding for the study came, in part, from the National Institutes of
Health and the U.S. Department of Energy.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Yale_University. Original written
by Jim Shelton. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sean F. McWilliams, Danie"l L. J. Broere, Connor J. V. Halliday,
Samuel
M. Bhutto, Brandon Q. Mercado, Patrick L. Holland. Coupling
dinitrogen and hydrocarbons through aryl migration. Nature, 2020;
584 (7820): 221 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2565-5 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200812144019.htm

--- up 4 weeks, 1 hour, 55 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)