"Nitrogen" Suppt. Vol. B 1 describes the compounds of nitrogen with
noble gases and, in the major part, binary compounds composed of one
nitrogen atom and hydrogen. Nitrogen- hydrogen compounds with two and
more nitrogen atoms are covered in "Nitrogen" Suppt. Vol. 82. There is
some information on various nitrogen-noble gas species, to a large
extent because of the interest in their bonding behavior. Experimental
data have been obtained chiefly for some singly charged cations,
particularly those formed by argon Like ArN + and ArNi. The existence of
others has only been established by mass spectrometry. The binary
compounds of nitrogen and hydrogen comprise NH, NH, NH, NH, the corre- 2
4 5 sponding ions, and some adducts. NH and NH1 are not treated. The
predominant part 3 of the volume covers the description of the molecules
NH and NH . 8oth species are present 2 in photolytic processes in the
atmosphere. They play an essential role in combustion systems regardless
of whether the nitrogen stems from the nitrogen-containing fuel or from
the air. Thus, much work has been devoted to the understanding of the
nitrogen chemistry in combustion and in the atmosphere. The production
and detection methods as weiL as the reactions have been comprehensively
described. ln addition detailed information is given on the spectral
behavior, the knowledge of which is important for detecting the mole-
cules and for studying their kinetics.