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Selenium tetraazide is a nitrogen rich, highly unstable compound. It is been seen to spontaneously combust at all of the temperatures that it has been kept at, as low as -64° C, due to its reactivity with water and air. It is not commonly made or studied, as the experiments have to be performed at temperatures below -50° C.

Synthesis
Selenium tetraazide is synthesized from selenium tetrafluoride and silicon trimethyl trinitride at -50° C in dichloromethane or at -64° C in sulfur dioxide.

SeF4 + 4Me3SiN3 CD2Cl2,-50°C&rarr;SO 2,-65°C Se(N3)4 + 4Me3SiF

The selenium tetraazide precipitate was kept in the SO2 solvent and it only lasts a few hours at -50° C, but can also spontaneously combust at any temperature.

Properties
Selenium tetraazide is a bright yellow compound that was predicted to have two different configurations: bipyramidal and tetragonal pyramid. Since this compound is new and difficult to work with, the tests preformed were to determine the composition and symmetry of the compound. The 77Se nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to determine that the structure synthesized was selenium tetraazide. Raman spectroscopy was run on the sample to determine the point groups of the molecules. A C2 rotation was found in the spectra. There was also a peak that could have been another C2 rotation or a C4 rotation for either configuration. This makes either of the configurations of selenium tetraazide possible for this reaction.