# Synthesis of an o‑Benzoquinone Arsenic Mononitride (AsN) Complex and Its Reaction to Singlet Arsinonitrene

## TL;DR

This paper describes a new method to create and stabilize a rare arsenic-nitrogen complex, which could help advance the study of heavier elements in chemistry.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a novel synthetic approach for generating and stabilizing an o-benzoquinone arsenic mononitride complex.

## Key findings

- An o-benzoquinone arsenic mononitride complex was successfully synthesized using UV or green light.
- The complex recombines to form singlet arsinonitrene under red light irradiation.
- DFT calculations suggest the method can be applied to heavier dipnictogen systems.

## Abstract

The generation and stabilization of heavier analogues
of dinitrogen
(N2) remain fundamental challenges in modern inorganic
and materials chemistry. In marked contrast to N2, these
species exhibit extremely high reactivities and transient lifetimes,
making their synthesis, characterization, and utilization difficult.
In this work, we introduce an efficient approach for the generation
of an elusive o-benzoquinonearsenic mononitride
(AsN) complex formed when ortho-phenyldioxoarsinoazide
was exposed to UV or green light irradiation. Its recombination to
arsinonitrene was observed upon irradiation with red light. The experimental
data are well supported by density functional theory (DFT) and multireference
(MS)-CASPT2­(10,10)-SOC/ANO-S-VDZP electronic structure computations.
DFT analyses suggest that this strategy can be extended to heavier
dipnictogen systems. Our findings enhance the fundamental understanding
of heavier dipnictogen chemistry and establish a versatile synthetic
platform for their synthesis and subsequent practical use.