Azane

Azane

Azanes (also known as saturated hydronitrogens) are chemical compounds that consist only of hydrogen and nitrogen atoms and are bonded exclusively by single bonds (i.e. they are saturated compounds) without any cycles (or loops i.e. cyclic structure). Azanes belong to a homologous series of inorganic compounds in which the members differ by a constant relative molecular mass of 15.

Each nitrogen atom has three bonds (either N-H or N-N bonds), and each hydrogen atom is joined to a nitrogen atom (H-N bonds). A series of linked nitrogen atoms is known as the nitrogen skeleton or nitrogen backbone. The number of nitrogen atoms is used to define the size of the azane (e.g. N₂-azane).

An azyl group is a functional group or side-chain, that like an azane, consists solely of single-bonded nitrogen and hydrogen atoms, for example an amino or hydrazinyl group.

The simplest possible azane (the parent molecule) is ammonia, NH₃. There is no limit to the number of nitrogen atoms that can be linked together, the only limitation being that the molecule is acyclic, is saturated, and is a hydronitrogen.

Azanes are moderately reactive and have significant biological activity. Azanes can be viewed as a more biologically active/reactive portion (functional groups) of a molecule, which can be hung upon molecular trees.