Phosphorus mononitride (PN) only has a fleeting existence on Earth, and molecular precursors for the release of this molecule under mild conditions in solution have remained elusive. Here we report the synthesis of an anthracene-based precursor—an anthracene moiety featuring an azidophosphine bridge across its central ring—that dissociates into dinitrogen, anthracene and P≡N in solution with a first-order half-life of roughly 30 min at room temperature. Heated under reduced pressure, this azidophosphine–anthracene precursor decomposes in an explosive fashion at around 42 °C, as demonstrated in a molecular-beam mass spectrometry study. The precursor is also shown to serve as a PN transfer reagent in the synthesis of an Fe–NP coordination complex, through ligand exchange with its Fe–N₂ counterpart. The terminal N-bonded complex was found to be energetically preferred, compared to its P-bonded linkage isomer, owing to a significant covalent Fe–pnictogen bond character and an associated less unfavourable Pauli repulsion in the metal–ligand interaction.

一氮化磷 (PN) 在地球上只存在短暂的存在，在溶液中温和条件下释放这种分子的分子前体仍然难以捉摸。在这里，我们报告了基于蒽的前体的合成——一种蒽部分，其中心环上有一个叠氮膦桥——它在溶液中解离成二氮、蒽和 P≡N，在室温下的一级半衰期约为 30 分钟温度。如分子束质谱研究所示，在减压下加热，这种叠氮膦-蒽前体在 42 °C 左右以爆炸方式分解。该前体还显示在 Fe-NP 配位络合物的合成中作为 PN 转移试剂，通过与其 Fe-N _{2的配体交换}对方。由于显着的共价 Fe-pnictogen 键特征和在金属-配体相互作用中相关的不太不利的泡利排斥，发现末端 N 键合络合物与其 P 键键合异构体相比在能量上是优选的。