Dinitrogen pentoxide

Dinitrogen pentoxide (also known as nitrogen pentoxide or nitric anhydride) is the <a href="/facts/Chemical_compound/37FXqqtv">chemical compound</a> with the <a href="/facts/Chemical_formula/hghUtthl">formula</a> N2O5. It is one of the binary <a href="/facts/Nitrogen_oxide/ved7hE6X">nitrogen oxides</a>, a family of compounds that contain only <a href="/facts/Nitrogen/Nf1QpGDz">nitrogen</a> and <a href="/facts/Oxygen/acyn6o8r">oxygen</a>. It exists as colourless crystals that sublime slightly above room temperature, yielding a colorless gas.
Dinitrogen pentoxide is an unstable and potentially dangerous oxidizer that once was used as a <a href="/facts/Reagent/c3GLInCu">reagent</a> when dissolved in <a href="/facts/Chloroform/gvzuJMXa">chloroform</a> for <a href="/facts/Nitration/VnszL09H">nitrations</a> but has largely been superseded by <a href="/facts/Nitronium_tetrafluoroborate/jRGRlxxm">nitronium tetrafluoroborate</a> (NO2BF4).
N2O5 is a rare example of a compound that adopts two structures depending on the conditions. The solid is a salt, nitronium nitrate, consisting of separate <a href="/facts/Nitronium_ion/ATVyweb5">nitronium cations</a> [NO2]+ and <a href="/facts/Nitrate/5AnVlYnL">nitrate anions</a> [NO3]−; but in the gas phase and under some other conditions it is a <a href="/facts/Covalent_bond/EzMLf3Pz">covalently-bound</a> molecule.

Dinitrogen pentoxide open-in-new

Dinitrogen pentoxide