Caesium azide explained

Caesium azide or cesium azide is an inorganic compound of caesium and nitrogen. It is a salt of azide with the formula .

Structure

adopts the same structure as , , and , crystallizing in a tetragonal distorted caesium chloride structure where each azide ion coordinates to eight metal cations, and each metal cation coordinates to eight terminal N centers. When heated to 151°C, it transitions to a cubic structure.^[1]

Preparation and reactions

Caesium azide can be prepared from the neutralization reaction between hydrazoic acid and caesium hydroxide:^[2]

Caesium carbonate can also be used as the base:

Caesium sulfate reacts with barium azide to form insoluble barium sulfate and caesium azide:

The thermal decomposition of in vacuo can be used as a method of generating high purity caesium metal:^[3]

Notes and References

1. Book: McIntyre. J.E.. Dictionary of Inorganic Compounds Volume 3: C₄₆ – Zr. 3096. Chapman & Hill. 0-412-30120-2.
2. Book: Steudel. R.. Schenk. P. W.. Brauer. Georg. Handbuch der Präparativen Anorganischen Chemie, 3. Auflage, Band I. 458. Stickstoff. 1975. F. Enke . 3-432-02328-6.
3. Blatter. Fritz. Schumacher. Ernst. Production of high purity caesium. Journal of the Less Common Metals. 115. 2. 307–313. 15 January 1986. 10.1016/0022-5088(86)90153-0.