PHOSPHORUS NITRIDES - THE CINDERELLA OF PHOSPHORUS CHEMISTRY

Stamped as long since discovered and therefore completely characterized, simple inorganic molecules like the phosphorus nitrides are often neglected. Yet although P3N5 was synthesized in 1903, its structure is still a mystery. W. Schnick et al. resurrected the chemistry of these compounds in the synthesis of P-N analogues of known structural types. In this way they succeeded in synthesizing and characterizing the lithium salt of the complex anion P4N10(10-) (Angew. Chem. 1991, 103, 857; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1991, 30, 830) and Zn7[P12N24]Cl2, whose [P12N24] framework is analogous to that of the [Al6Si6O24]Cl2 unit of sodalite (communication on p. 213).