This review summarizes chemical reactions of nitrogen, both oxidative and reductive reactions, as an outlook for moving beyond fossil-fuel driven reactions. The article focuses on the challenges and opportunities associated with the chemistry of N2, including thermodynamics of the nitrogen cycle, and then focusing on the reduced forms of nitrogen, primarily NH3, and then the oxidized forms.
This article evolved from presentations and discussion at the workshop “Frontiers, Opportunities, and Challenges in Biochemical and Chemical N2 activation” held in October 2016, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The workshop was sponsored by the Council on Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. The authors thank the members of the Council for their encouragement and assistance in developing this workshop. In addition, the authors are indebted to the agencies responsible for funding of their individual research efforts, without which this work would not have been possible.