Sodium hydrazide


Sodium hydrazide is an inorganic compound with the formula NaN2H3. It is a pale yellow solid that detonates when in contact with air, water, or alcohol.

History and preparation

Sodium hydrazide was first observed as a mixture with sodium hydroxide in 1895 when excess sodium metal was added to hydrazine hydrate under nitrogen. Subsequently, sodium hydrazide was isolated in pure form by Wilhelm Schlenk in 1915 by the reaction of sodium metal and anhydrous hydrazine, followed by removal of the excess hydrazine by heating to 60 °C:
It can also be produced by the reaction of sodium amide or sodium hydride and hydrazine.

Properties

Sodium hydrazide is a pale-yellow solid that detonates when heated above 100 °C. It also detonates when in contact with air, water, or alcohol, such as ethanol. Due to this, it is used as a suspension in benzene or diethyl ether in organic reactions. It is capable of doing nucleophilic additions to various compounds, such as nitriles, which are converted to amidrazones.