Maximum Covalent Bonds Formed by Carbon with Nitrogen?

[subhradeep mahata]

Homework Statement

What is the maximum number of covalent bonds formed by carbon with nitrogen?
A)2 B)3 C)4 D)1

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

I have not come across a single compound which has more than 3 C-N bonds. But my book is giving the answer as 4. Now, I am not sure whether this has to do with the extra lone pair of electrons on nitrogen atom or not, but i will be grateful to you if you could just help me out. Thanks.

 

[Borek]

What is the maximum number of bonds carbon can form with any element?

 

[DrDu]

It does not say with the same nitrogen atom, does it?

 

[subhradeep mahata]

@DrDu No it does not say,but it would have been a really stupid question then. Suppose there had been hydrogen in place of nitrogen, would the answer would have been 4 then?
Let's say there is only one nitrogen atom, then would it be 3?

 

[subhradeep mahata]

@Borek Carbon has a valency 4, so at most it can form 4 covalent bonds, but i have not seen carbon forming those 4 bonds with only one other atom. So, i guess it is 3.

 

[DrDu]

It has been argued that the bond order in C2 is 4.

 

[epenguin]

Well looking up Wikipedia it appears that tetranitromethane has been known since the 1860s. So for theory you see no reason why it shouldn't exist and it does exist. In practice you are unlikely to meet it. Trouble is it is more sensitive to percussion than TNT! And As far as I can make out there are some small applications, but big ones tend to meet this kind of end:

"This method was attempted on an industrial scale in the 1950s by Nitroform Products Company in Newark, USA, but the entire plant was destroyed by an explosion in 1953.[8]"