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Concept
Tetrasulfur tetranitride
Summary
Tetrasulfur tetranitride is an inorganic compound with the formula . This gold-poppy coloured solid is the most important binary sulfur nitride, which are compounds that contain only the elements sulfur and nitrogen. It is a precursor to many S-N compounds and has attracted wide interest for its unusual structure and bonding.
Nitrogen and sulfur have similar electronegativities. When the properties of atoms are so highly similar, they often form extensive families of covalently bonded structures and compounds. Indeed, a large number of S-N and S-NH compounds are known with as their parent.
adopts an unusual “extreme cradle” structure, with D2d point group symmetry. It can be viewed as a derivative of a (hypothetical) eight-membered ring (or more simply a 'deformed' eight-membered ring) of alternating sulfur and nitrogen atoms. The pairs of sulfur atoms across the ring are separated by 2.586 Å, resulting in a cage-like structure as determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The nature of the transannular S–S interactions remains a matter of investigation because it is significantly shorter than the sum of the van der Waal's distances but has been explained in the context of molecular orbital theory. One pair of the transannular S atoms have valence 4, and the other pair of the transannular S atoms have valence 2. The bonding in is considered to be delocalized, which is indicated by the fact that the bond distances between neighboring sulfur and nitrogen atoms are nearly identical. has been shown to co-crystallize with benzene and the molecule.
is stable to air. It is, however, unstable in the thermodynamic sense with a positive enthalpy of formation of +460 kJ/mol. This endothermic enthalpy of formation originates in the difference in energy of compared to its highly stable decomposition products:
Because one of its decomposition products is a gas, can be used as an explosive. Purer samples tend to be more explosive. Small samples can be detonated by striking with a hammer.
Official source
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