Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 20, 2026

High-Pressure NMR Experiments for Detecting Protein Low-Lying Conformational States
Published on: June 29, 2021
Pressure-induced symmetry-lowering transition in dense nitrogen to layered polymeric nitrogen (LP-N) with colossal
Dane Tomasino1, Minseob Kim1, Jesse Smith2
1Department of Chemistry and Institute for Shock Physics, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA.
Abstract:
We present the discovery of a novel nitrogen phase synthesized using laser-heated diamond anvil cells at pressures between 120-180 GPa well above the stability field of cubic gauche (cg)-N. This new phase is characterized by its singly bonded, layered polymeric (LP) structure similar to the predicted Pba2 and two colossal Raman bands (at ∼1000 and 1300 cm^{-1} at 150 GPa), arising from two groups of highly polarized nitrogen atoms in the bulk and surface of the layer, respectively. The present result also provides a new constraint for the nitrogen phase diagram, highlighting an unusual symmetry-lowering 3D cg-N to 2D LP-N transition and thereby the enhanced electrostatic contribution to the stabilization of this densely packed LP-N (ρ=4.85 g/cm^{3} at 120 GPa).
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
Structure of Amines
IR Spectrum Peak Splitting: Symmetric vs Asymmetric Vibrations
VSEPR Theory and the Effect of Lone Pairs
Metallic Solids
All metallic solids exhibit high thermal and electrical conductivity, metallic luster, and...
¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Temporal Resolution

