“…The a-polymorphs of MNX (M ¼ Ti, Zr; X ¼ Cl, Br, I) are synthesized at reaction temperatures of about 180-500 C, whereas the b-phases require higher temperatures for their formation (600 C) [16]. In both cases the by-products ammonium halides, amide halides like M(NH 2 ) 3 X (M ¼ Ti, Zr; X ¼ Cl, Br) [14,17,18], different ammonia adducts such as MX 4 Á n NH 3 (M ¼ Ti, Zr; X ¼ Cl, Br, I; n ¼ 2, 4,5,6,8) [12,13,17,19,20] and (NH 4 ) 2 [MCl 6 ] (M ¼ Ti, Zr) [21,22] necessitate a purification step, which comprises sublimation or thermal treatment in an ammonia stream at the synthesis temperature (see Table 1).…”