Plasma-promoted reactions of the heterobimetallic anions CuNb- with dinitrogen and subsequent reactions with carbon dioxide: formation of C-N bonds.

The activation and functionalization of dinitrogen with carbon dioxide into useful chemicals containing C-N bonds are significant research projects but highly challenging. Herein, we report that N2 molecules are dissociated by heterobimetallic CuNb- anions assisted by surface plasma radiation, leading to the formation of CuNbN2- anions; the CuNbN2- anions can further react with CO2 to generate products NCO- with one C-N bond and NbO2NCN- with two C-N bonds under thermal collision conditions. For the activation of dinitrogen, the plasma atmosphere is conducive to the dissociation of the NN bond, which renders the coupling reactions of N2 and CO2 molecules easier to proceed. This is the first report of coupling of N2 and CO2 to generate C-N bonds by making good use of the plasma effect to assist in the activation of N2 molecules. This new strategy with the assistance of plasma provides a practicable route to construct C-N bonds by directly using N2 and CO2 at room temperature.