Zinc azide is an inorganic compound composed of zinc cations () and azide anions (). It is a white, explosive solid that can be prepared by the protonolysis of diethylzinc with hydrazoic acid:
Zinc azide is a coordination polymer which crystallizes in three polymorphs, all of which feature tetrahedral zinc centers and bridging azide ligands. ñ- crystallizes in the monoclinic space group and is stable, while the other two polymorphs are metastable. P2<sub>1</sub>/n. ò- is trigonal, space group P3<sub>2</sub>21, and ó- is monoclinic, space group C2.
It is easily hydrolyzed, and attempts to prepare it in aqueous solution resulted in the precipitation of basic azides (x = 0.9âÂÂ1.0). Both the ñ- and ò-forms were found to be very friction- and shock-sensitive, violently exploding in blue flashes, but can be made to decompose slowly by gentle heating, giving off nitrogen gas. In a sealed glass tube with inert atmosphere, this yields zinc nitride, .