THE REACTIONS OF ACTIVE NITROGEN WITH CYANOGEN AND CN RADICALS

Abstract

Cyanogen is destroyed by active nitrogen at temperatures of 80° to 400 °C, and nitrogen pressures of 0.34 to 3.1 mm, with the formation of polymer. At 400 °C and sufficiently high flow rates of cyanogen, a constant amount is destroyed, which apparently corresponds to practically complete consumption of the available nitrogen atoms.The formation of CN radicals in the reaction of cyanogen with active nitrogen was established by the production of HCN and CH₃CN when hydrogen or methane was added to the reaction mixture. The rate of destruction of cyanide radicals, when they were transported through a reaction vessel, was determined by introducing hydrogen below the site of reaction, and found to follow first order kinetics.