How to solve a ‘nasty’ compound’s structure with a million-Euro synchrotron
Chemists overcomes challenges of handling explosive and toxic nitrogen to investigate its structure using Germany’s most expensive x-ray source
‘It’s a nasty compound,’ says Thomas Kläpotke about hydrazoic acid, a highly toxic and very explosive liquid that’s 98% nitrogen. His team from the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Germany, has now solved the acid’s structure at low temperature using, for the first time, synchrotron x-ray radiation.