Abstract
The FeMo-cofactor of nitrogenase, a metal-sulfur cluster that contains eight transition metals, promotes the conversion of dinitrogen into ammonia when stored in the protein. Although various metal-sulfur clusters have been synthesized over the past decades, their use in the activation of N(2) has remained challenging, and even the FeMo-cofactor extracted from nitrogenase is not able to reduce N(2). Herein, we report the activation of N(2) by a metal-sulfur cluster that contains molybdenum and titanium. An N(2) moiety bridging two [Mo(3)S(4)Ti] cubes is converted into NH(3) and N(2)H(4) upon treatment with Brønsted acids in the presence of a reducing agent.