Phase Study of NH3 to 100GPa by Infrared Absorption

Lone-pair interactions and photodissociation of compressed nitrogen trifluoride

High-pressure behavior of nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) was investigated by Raman and IR spectroscopy at pressures up to 55 GPa and room temperature, as well as by periodic calculations up to 100 GPa. Experimentally, we find three solid-solid phase transitions at 9, 18, and 39.5 GPa. Vibrational spectroscopy indicates that in all observed phases NF3 remains in the molecular form, in contrast to the behavior of compressed ammonia. This finding is confirmed by density functional theory calculations, which also indicate that the phase transitions of compressed NF3 are governed by the interplay between lone‑pair interactions and efficient molecule packing. Although nitrogen trifluoride is molecular in the whole pressure range studied, we show that it can be photodissociated by mid-IR laser radiation. This finding paves the way for the use of NF3 as an oxidizing and fluorinating agent in high-pressure reactions.

Highly compressed ammonia forms an ionic crystal

Ammonia is an important compound with many uses, such as in the manufacture of fertilizers, explosives and pharmaceuticals. As an archetypal hydrogen-bonded system, the properties of ammonia under pressure are of fundamental interest, and compressed ammonia has a significant role in planetary physics. We predict new high-pressure crystalline phases of ammonia (NH(3)) through a computational search based on first-principles density-functional-theory calculations. Ammonia is known to form hydrogen-bonded solids, but we predict that at higher pressures it will form ammonium amide ionic solids consisting of alternate layers of NH(4)(+) and NH(2)(-) ions. These ionic phases are predicted to be stable over a wide range of pressures readily obtainable in laboratory experiments. The occurrence of ionic phases is rationalized in terms of the relative ease of forming ammonium and amide ions from ammonia molecules, and the volume reduction on doing so. We also predict that the ionic bonding cannot be sustained under extreme compression and that, at pressures beyond the reach of current static-loading experiments, ammonia will return to hydrogen-bonded structures consisting of neutral NH(3) molecules.

Effects of high pressure on molecules

Recent high-pressure studies reveal a wealth of new information about the behavior of molecular materials subjected to pressures well into the multimegabar range (several hundred gigapascal), corresponding to compressions in excess of an order of magnitude. Under such conditions, bonding patterns established for molecular systems near ambient conditions change dramatically, causing profound effects on numerous physical and chemical properties and leading to the formation of new classes of materials. Representative systems are examined to illustrate key phenomena, including the evolution of structure and bonding with compression; pressure-induced phase transitions and chemical reactions; pressure-tuning of vibrational dynamics, quantum effects, and excited electronic states; and novel states of electronic and magnetic order. Examples are taken from simple elemental molecules (e.g. homonuclear diatomics), simple heteronuclear species, hydrogen-bonded systems (including H2O), simple molecular mixtures, and selected larger, more complex molecules. There are many implications that span the sciences.