Knowledge Bank

The cyanamidyl radical HNCN was first observed and identified by Herzberg and $Warsop1$ in 1963 in the flash photolysis of diazomethane. Spectroscopic studies of this molecule have been limited to flash photolysis conditions. Using hydrogen abstraction HNCN is produced in the gas phase in steady state concentrations by the mechanism $X+H2NCN\to HX+HNCN$ The efficiency of the mechanism is monitored by the intensity of the $O-O$ band of the $A¯-X¯$ transition near 3440 {\AA}. The best results are obtained using discharges in $CF4.SF6$ or $CC12F2$ as hydrogen scavenger sources.