Nitrogen-containing organic chemicals
such as amines, amides, nitriles,
and hydrazones are crucial in chemical and medical industries. This
paper reports a direct synthesis of
N
,
N
-dimethyl cyanamide [(CH
3
)
2
NCN] and amino acetonitrile
(NH
2
CH
2
CN) through a methane/ammonia (CH
4
/NH
3
) coupling reaction triggered by dielectric
barrier discharge plasma, with by-products of hydrazine, amines, and
hydrazones. The influence of CH
4
/NH
3
molar ratio,
feedstock residence time, and specific energy input on the CH
4
/NH
3
plasma coupling reaction has been investigated
and discussed. Under the optimized conditions, the productivities
of (CH
3
)
2
NCN and NH
2
CH
2
CN reached 0.46 and 0.82 g·L
–1
·h
–1
, respectively, with 8.83% CH
4
conversion.
In addition, through combining the optical emission spectra diagnosis
and the reaction results, a possible CH
4
/NH
3
plasma coupling reaction mechanism has been proposed. This paper
provides a potential fine application of CH
4
and NH
3
in green synthesis of liquid nitrogen-containing organic
chemicals, such as nitriles, amines, amides, and hydrazones.