Development of catalytic nitrogen fixation using transition metal–dinitrogen complexes under mild reaction conditions

Abstract

This paper describes our recent progress in catalytic nitrogen fixation using transition metal–dinitrogen complexes as catalysts. Our research group has recently developed novel reaction systems for the catalytic transformation of molecular dinitrogen into ammonia and hydrazine using molybdenum–, iron–, cobalt– and vanadium–dinitrogen complexes under mild reaction conditions. The new findings presented in this paper may provide a new approach to the development of economical nitrogen fixation to replace the energy-consuming Haber–Bosch process.