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 N molecules are dissociated by heterobimetallic CuNb anions assisted by surface plasma radiation, leading to the formation of CuNbN anions; the CuNbN anions can further react with CO to generate products NCO with one C-N bond and NbONCN 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 N and CO molecules easier to proceed. This is the first report of coupling of N and CO to generate C-N bonds by making good use of the plasma effect to assist in the activation of N molecules. This new strategy with the assistance of plasma provides a practicable route to construct C-N bonds by directly using N and CO at room temperature.