Recently, our group was invited to publish a review article on hydride-mediated activation and transformation of nitrogen molecules.

Ammonia is an important bulk chemical and an energy carrier with great application prospects. "Activation and conversion of nitrogen to ammonia under mild conditions" is a challenging research topic pursued by generations of chemists.

The activation and transformation of nitrogen molecules requires the donation of electrons (e-) and protons (H⁺), and hydrides, as e^-/H⁺carriers, can participate in nitrogen reduction reactions through the mutual transformation of hydride ions (H^-), hydrogen atoms (H⁰), and protons (H⁺). In this review, the authors summarized the representative research progress of hydrides in the fields of homogeneous, biological and heterogeneous nitrogen fixation, focusing on the unique performance of inorganic metal hydrides in recently developed heterogeneous ammonia synthesis systems such as thermal catalysis, chemical looping and electrochemistry, and put forward insights on the challenges and future development directions of hydrides in the construction of green ammonia synthesis systems. In addition, the authors also stated that hydrides have also begun to show their prospects in the process of nitrogen conversion without the formation of ammonia. With the development of advanced materials science and the advancement of characterization technology, the application of hydride materials in the field of nitrogen fixation will surely be more extensive and in-depth.

Professor Chen Ping's research team has long been committed to the research on hydride-mediated activation and transformation of nitrogen molecules. It has successively developed a new "transition metal-hydride" dual-center ammonia synthesis catalyst system (Nature Chemistry, 2017), a new metal hydride/imino compound chemical looping ammonia synthesis system (Nature Energy, 2018), and a new alkaline (earth) metal ruthenium-based coordination hydride ammonia synthesis catalyst system (Nature Catalysis, 2021).

This review article, titled "Hydrides Mediate Nitrogen Fixation", was recently published in Cell Reports Physical Science. The first authors of the review are Wang Qianru, an Associate Professor in our group, and Guan Yeqin, a doctoral student. The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Basic Science Center Project "Air Main Component Transformation Chemistry", the Chinese Academy of Sciences Youth Innovation Promotion Association, and other projects. (Text/Photo Guan Yeqin, Wang Qianru).

Article link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100779