Research groups led by Professor Yoshiaki Nishibayashi from the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, Professor Kazunari Yoshizawa from the Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering at Kyushu University, and Professor Hiromasa Tanaka from Daido University have successfully converted nitrogen gas directly and catalytically into cyanate ions (NCO−), a nitrogen-containing compound, under extremely mild reaction conditions at room temperature and atmospheric pressure using the same catalyst used for ammonia synthesis. This is the world's first example of catalytic synthesis of nitrogen-containing organic compounds from nitrogen gas using a molecular catalyst.