Deville rebooted – practical N2O5 synthesis

Lee E. Edwards; Benson M. Kariuki; Matthew Didsbury; Christopher D. Jones; Thomas Wirth

doi:10.1039/D4CC01403K

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Deville rebooted – practical N₂O₅ synthesis†

Lee E. Edwards,

^a Benson M. Kariuki,

^a Matthew Didsbury,^b Christopher D. Jones^c and Thomas Wirth

*^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Cardiff University, School of Chemistry, Cardiff, UK
E-mail: wirth@cf.ac.uk

^b BAE Systems Land UK, Glascoed, Usk, Monmouthshire, UK

^c Falcon Project Ltd, The Magazine Area, Westcott Venture Park, Aylesbury, Bucks, UK

Abstract

Dinitrogen pentoxide (N₂O₅), the anhydride of nitric acid, was synthesised by Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville in Paris in 1849 using silver nitrate and chlorine gas. Herein, we revisit, optimise, and modify Deville's method using photocatalysis to enable a safe, clean, practical, and reproducible alternative for N₂O₅ synthesis in quantitative yields. Moreover, it is predicted that the modifications can accommodate an industrial scale-up, but the silver chloride generated must be recycled.

This article is part of the themed collection: Chemical Communications HOT Articles 2024

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4CC01403K
Article type: Communication
Submitted: 27 Mar 2024
Accepted: 08 May 2024
First published: 09 May 2024
This article is Open Access

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Chem. Commun., 2024,60, 5920-5923

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Deville rebooted – practical N₂O₅ synthesis

L. E. Edwards, B. M. Kariuki, M. Didsbury, C. D. Jones and T. Wirth, Chem. Commun., 2024, 60, 5920 DOI: 10.1039/D4CC01403K

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