Lithium azide

clear colorless solution

Lithium azide is the lithium salt of Hydrazoic acid and is used to carry out azidolysis reactions (in Acetonitrile), as well as ring opening reactions of aromatics such as Styrene oxide (S687795).

With gentle warming, NaN3 (91.30 g.) and LiSO4-H2O (1.41 g.) are dissolved in 7 ml. of H2O. Then 35 ml. of 96% alcohol is added with shaking. The solution is filtered after ten minutes and the residue of Na2SO4 and LiSO4 washed with alcohol. The filtrate and wash solutions are evaporated on a water bath and dried in a drying oven at 80°C. This crude product is digested at 35°C for two minutes with 10 ml. of 96% alcohol and filtered, and the solution is dried as described above. The yield is 0.6 g of 99.5% Lithium azide.

Digest ~1g with 15mL of 96% EtOH at 35o, filter and dry it in air at temperatures below 80o. Store it in a cool place and treat it as potentially explosive. Its solubility in H2O is 66.4% at16o, and 20.26% at16o in EtOH. [Hofmann-Bang Acta Chem Scand 11 581 1957, Schenk in Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry (Ed. Brauer) Academic Press Vol I p 581 1963.]