Question

How do you represent the reduction of nitrogen to give ammonia?

Answer 1

`1/2N_2(g) + 3/2H_2(g) rarr NH_3(g)`

Explanation:

Simple, ain't it? Several biological processes achieve this reduction. And yet this reaction is extraordinarily difficult to do, and it really has only been in the last 10-20 years or so that chemists have developed convincing model systems that demonstrate this reduction in the laboratory.....

Industrially this reaction is catalyzed on metal surfaces, that can reduce the activation energies associated with cleavage of the `N-=N` triple bond.