Nitrogen makes up 77% of the air we breathe, and so, in theory, it is virtually infinitely available for ammonia synthesis. However, in practice, it only reacts extremely slowly with other elements.

That delay meant they were unable to claim the first ever quadruple bond to boron—another team reported quadruple bonding in BFe(CO) 3-late last year (Nat. Commun. 2019, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019 ...

Cubic boron nitride has a three-dimensional lattice structure and looks like a diamond at the molecular level. H-BN is thin, soft and used in cosmetics to give them a silky texture.