Editing Azide (section)

=== Redox behaviour and trend to disproportionation ===
{{Main articles|Disproportionation|Comproportionation|Frost diagram}}
[[File:Nitrogen frost diagramm.png|thumb|300px|[[Frost diagram]] for nitrogen species at [[pH]] = 0]]
Azides have an ambivalent [[redox]] behavior: they are both [[Redox|oxidizing]] and [[Redox|reducing]], as they are easily subject to [[disproportionation]], as illustrated by the [[Frost diagram]] of nitrogen. This diagram shows the significant energetic instability of the [[hydrazoic acid]] {{Chem2|HN3}} (or the azide ion) surrounded by two much more stable species, the [[ammonium]] [[ion]] {{Chem2|NH4+}} on the left and the molecular [[nitrogen]] {{Chem2|N2}} on the right. As seen on the Frost diagram the disproportionation reaction lowers ∆G, the [[Gibbs free energy]] of the system {{Nowrap|(−∆G/F {{=}} zE}}, where F is the [[Faraday constant]], z the number of [[electron]]s exchanged in the redox reaction, and E the [[standard electrode potential]]). By minimizing the energy in the system, the disproportionation reaction increases its [[Thermodynamics|thermodynamical]] stability.