19618-06-5

The selective oxidation of aniline to metastable and valuable azoxybenzene, azobenzene or nitrosobenzene has important practical significance in organic synthesis. However, uncontrollable selectivity and laborious synthesis of the expensive required catalysts severely hinders the uptake of these reactions in industrial settings. Herein, we have pioneered the discovery of Zr(OH)4 as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst capable of the selective oxidation of aniline, using either peroxide or O2 as oxidant, to selectively obtain various azoxybenzenes, symmetric/unsymmetric azobenzenes, as well as nitrosobenzenes, by simply regulating the reaction solvent, without the need for additives. Mechanistic experiments and DFT calculations demonstrate that the activation of H2O2 and O2 is primarily achieved by the bridging hydroxyl and terminal hydroxyl groups of Zr(OH)4, respectively. The present work provides an economical and environmentally friendly strategy for the selective oxidation of aniline in industrial applications.

Aromatic azo compounds, which play an important role in pharmaceutical and industrial applications, still face great challenges in synthesis. Herein, we report a molybdenum oxide compound, [N(C4H9)4]2[Mo6O19] (1), catalyzed selective oxidation of anilines with hydrogen peroxide as green oxidant. The oxidation of anilines can be realized in a fully selectively fashion to afford various symmetric/asymmetric azobenzene and azoxybenzene compounds, respectively, by changing additive and solvent, avoiding the use of stoichiometric metal oxidants. Preliminary mechanistic investigations suggest the intermediacy of highly active reactive and elusive Mo imido complexes.

The invention provides a preparation method of niobium or tantalum complex and an application of the niobium or tantalum complex in catalyzing aromatic amine to generate an oxidized azobenzene compound. The preparation method of the complex comprises A hydration oxide preparation, @timetime@ niobium oxide or tantalum oxide and strong base in 300 - 800 °C melting calcination 2 - 8h, adding water to dissolve and filter, and then adjusting pH through 4-6, suction filtration and drying. The B complex is prepared by mixing a hydrated oxide with a molar ratio 10-25: 1 with hydrogen peroxide, adding an organic acid and a cationic precursor after clarifying the solution, and evaporating and drying to obtain a niobium complex or a tantalum complex. The molar ratio @timetime@: 1-3. In the method for synthesizing the oxidized azobenzene compound by using niobium or tantalum complex as a catalyst, ethanol is used as a solvent, hydrogen peroxide is used as an oxidant, niobium complex or tantalum complex is used as a catalyst, and the addition amount is ppm.

Although the catalytic activity of nano-gold surfaces for the reduction of nitro compounds has been known, the effect of their shape has been rarely evaluated. Here, the synthesis, characterization, and application of both gold nanoworms (GNW) and gold nanospheres (GNS) are described. Both GNW and GNS were characterized using SEM, TEM, UV–Vis, FTIR, and XPS spectroscopy. The catalytic efficiency of GNW with an average dimensions of 2 × 250 nm (D × L) towards the hydrogenation of nitrophenol, a pollutant present in industrial wastewater, is higher (TOF 3675 h?1) than that of spherical GNS (10 ± 1 nm), for which TOF is 1838 h?1 in water using NaBH4 as the reductant. The selectivity of 4-aminophenol is 100% for both GNS and GNW.

We report a catalytic tandem reduction of nitroarenes by sodium borohydride (NaBH4) in aqueous solution under ambient conditions, which can selectively produce five categories of nitrogen-containing compounds: anilines, N-aryl hydroxylamines, azoxy-, azo- and hydrazo-compounds. The catalyst is in situ-generated ultrasmall palladium nanoclusters (Pd NCs, diameter of 1.3 ± 0.3 nm) from the reduction of Pd(OAc)2 by NaBH4. These highly active Pd NCs are stabilized by surface-coordinated nitroarenes, which inhibit the further growth and aggregation of Pd NCs. By controlling the concentration of Pd(OAc)2 (0.1-0.5 mol% of nitroarene) and NaBH4, the water/ethanol solvent ratio and the tandem reaction sequence, each of the five categories of N-containing compounds can be obtained with excellent yields (up to 98%) in less than 30 min at room temperature. This tunable catalytic tandem reaction works efficiently with a broad range of nitroarene substrates and offers a green and sustainable method for the rapid and large-scale production of valuable N-containing chemicals.

Efficient, green, simple and environmentally friendly approach for the straightforward reductive coupling of nitroarenes to the corresponding azoxyarenes has been developed in the presence of Fe3O4@SiO2@Co–Zr–Sb as a novel recyclable nanocatalyst. The Co–Zr–Sb trimetallic nanoparticles immobilized on silica-layered magnetite have been prepared by the co-precipitation method. The mesoporous catalyst has been characterized by FT-IR, SEM, EDX, VSM, TEM and XRD analyses. The chemoselective hydrogenation of nitrobenzenes was carried out successfully in refluxing water to afford the corresponding azoxybenzenes within 2–10?min in good to high yields. The reusability of the heterogeneous nanocatalyst has also been studied using the FT-IR and SEM analyses. The catalyst was utilized four times in sequential runs without significant loss of activity. The current research includes remarkable advantages of short reaction times, absence of hazardous organic solvents, mild reaction conditions, high yields, using water as a green solvent and the ability to utilize the recyclable nanomagnetic catalyst.

Abstract: In this study, we synthesized a robust and sustainable Pd/SiO2 nanospheres catalyst. Further, its catalytic activity was demonstrated for the direct reductive coupling of nitroarenes under mild conditions. While the reaction with Pd nanoparticles on other supporting materials such as modified carbon materials and TiO2, under similar conditions, resulted formation of amines exclusively. Therefore, it was confirmed that the SiO2 was found to be the best supporting material towards the selective reductive coupling of nitroarenes. Also, the catalyst could be recycled up to five cycles with a marginal loss of product yield ( 2% yield). Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

High-surface area Nb2O5 nanoparticles were synthesised by a novel supercritical-CO2-assisted method (Nb2O5-scCO2) and were applied for the first time as a heterogeneous catalyst in the oxidative coupling of aniline to azoxybenzene using the environmentally friendly H2O2 as the oxidant. The application of scCO2 in the synthesis of Nb2O5-scCO2 catalyst resulted in a significantly enhanced catalytic activity compared to a reference catalyst prepared without scCO2 (Nb2O5-Ref) or to commercial Nb2O5. Importantly, the Nb2O5-scCO2 catalyst achieved an aniline conversion of 86% (stoichiometric maximum of 93% with the employed aniline-to-H2O2 ratio of 1?:?1.4) with an azoxybenzene selectivity of 92% and with 95% efficiency in H2O2 utilisation in 45 min without requiring external heating (the reaction is exothermic) and with an extremely low catalyst loading (weight ratio between the catalyst and substrate, Rc/s = 0.005). This performance largely surpasses that of any other heterogeneous catalyst previously reported for this reaction. Additionally, the Nb2O5 catalyst displayed high activity also for substituted anilines (e.g. methyl or ethyl-anilines and para-anisidine) and was reused in consecutive runs without any loss of activity. Characterisation by means of N2-physisorption, XRD, FTIR and TEM allowed the correlation of the remarkable catalytic performance of Nb2O5-scCO2 to its higher surface area and discrete nanoparticle morphology compared to the aggregated larger particles constituting the material prepared without scCO2. A catalytic test in the presence of a radical scavenger proved that the reaction follows a radical pathway.

The invention discloses a method for synthesizing an oxidized azo compound through selective oxidation of an aromatic amine, wherein an aromatic amine is used as a raw material, hydrogen peroxide is used as an oxidizing agent, a titanium-silicon molecular sieve or a metal modified titanium-silicon molecular sieve is used as a catalyst, and the aromatic amine is subjected to selective catalytic oxidation to prepare the corresponding oxidized azobenzene compound. According to the present invention, the method has advantages of environmental protection, good selectivity, high product yield, easyseparation and recycling of the catalyst, simple instrument required by the reaction, and easy operation.

An in situ modified hydrothermal synthesis of Ag/Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) and studies of their catalytic activity as a simple, eco-friendly and recyclable catalyst for one-pot conversion of aniline to azoxybenzene were performed. The as-synthesized nanostructured material was characterised by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), SEM-mapping, temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and vibrating sample magnetometer spectroscopy (VSM). The most active and recyclable catalyst with 2-5 nm diameters of the metallic Ag particles supported on 10-50 nm Fe2O3 nanoparticles was formed with a silver loading of 1.8 wt%. A high turnover number of ～592 was achieved with 92% conversion of aniline and 94% selectivity towards the target product azoxybenzene under atmospheric conditions. The effects of various reaction parameters including the reaction time, temperature and substrate to H2O2 molar ratio were screened and studied in detail. The results reveal the role of a synergistic effect between the surface Ag nanoparticles and Fe2O3 nanospheres for high catalytic activity.

In the present paper, a novel inorganic-organic layered material, a zirconium phosphate aminoethyl phosphonate, ZP(AEP), bearing aminoethyl groups on the layer surface, was used to immobilize AuNPs by a two-step procedure. The gold-based catalyst, Au1@ZP(AEP), containing 1 wt% Au, was characterized in terms of physico-chemical properties and TEM analysis revealed that the AuNPs have a spherical shape and an average size of 7.8 (±2.4) nm. Au1@ZP(AEP) proved its high efficiency for the chemoselective reduction of nitroarenes under mild conditions. Both batch and flow condition protocols have been defined. The catalytic system has been proven to be able to easily switch chemoselectivity allowing the control of the reduction of a series of nitroaromatics towards their corresponding azoxyarenes (2a-k) or anilines (2a-l) in 96% EtOH or abs EtOH, respectively, by using NaBH4 as a reducing agent, in good to excellent yields. Recovery and reuse of the catalytic system has been investigated proving the benefits of the flow approach.

Nitrobenzene and its derivatives can be selectively reduced to the corresponding azoxybenzene and aniline compounds with alcohols as the hydrogen source and KOH as the promoter only by simple changes of reaction conditions.

We report herein, a one-pot synthetic route for the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide decorated Ag/ZnO nanocomposite and studied its catalytic activity as simple, recyclable and efficient catalyst for one-pot conversion of nitrobenzene to azoxybenzene. It was observed that 5–10 nm Ag-nanoparticles supported on 40–60 nm ZnO nanorod decorated on reduced graphene oxide was formed with a silver loading of 1.6 wt%. The effect of different reaction parameters were investigated and studied in detail. A nitrobenzene conversion of 96% with 98% selectivity of azoxybenzene was achieved without the use of any external additives.

A convenient protocol for highly selective delivery of azoxybenzenes from reduction of nitrobenzenes was developed by utilizing a copper catalyst. A variety of functional groups and substitution were well tolerated.

A new amidation of azoxybenzenes with sulfonamides catalyzed by a rhodium(III) salt has been developed. This sulfonamidation proceeds efficiently under mild reaction conditions to generate new C-N bonds through C-H bond activation and functionalization, affording the corresponding 2-sulfonamidoazoxybenzenes in good yields with high regioselectivity.

A rhodium-catalyzed regioselective C-H activation/cyclization of azoxy compounds with alkynes has been disclosed to construct a variety of 2H-indazoles. A [4 + 1]-cycloaddition rather than a normal [4 + 2] mode is observed in the process of cyclative capture along with an oxygen-atom transfer and a C≡C triple bond cleavage. This protocol features a broad substrate scope, a good functional group tolerance, and an exclusive regioselectivity.

A Rh(III)-catalyzed tandem C-H alkylation/intramolecular decarboxylative cyclization of azoxy compounds with diazoesters for the synthesis of 3-acyl-2H-indazoles is disclosed. The azoxy instead of the azo group enables a distinct approach for cyclative capture, leading to a [4 + 1]-annulation rather than a classic [4 + 2] manner. The azoxy oxygen atom is traceless after annulation, and further removal from the product is not required. This reaction features a complete regioselectivity for unsymmetrical azoxybenzenes and a compatibility of monoaryldiazene oxides.

The invention relates to a preparation method for aromatic-azoxybenzene by oxidizing aromatic amine. According to the method, air or oxygen is used as an oxygen source, and aromatic amine is oxidized to be aromatic-azoxybenzene under the effect of metal oxide catalyst. The method has the advantage of high product yield and is easy to separate the catalyst.

An efficient chemoenzymatic process for the synthesis of azoxybenzenes was developed. A peracid was generated in situ by Novozym 435, and then a range of anilines were oxidized by the produced peracid to afford azoxybenzenes in yields ranging from 63.1 to 94.1 %. This method expands the application of lipase in organic synthesis and provides an alternative method for the synthesis of azoxybenzenes.

Heterogeneous catalysts comprising silver nanoparticles supported on nanostructured tungsten oxide were applied for room temperature oxidative coupling of aniline to azoxybenzene, an important chemical intermediate and a chemical of industrial interest. The catalytic protocol features high activity and selectivity to the target product azoxybenzene with a turnover number of ～368. The catalyst was characterized by XRD, XPS, ICP-AES, FT-IR, TGA, EXAFS, SEM and TEM. The silver-tungsten nanomaterial acts as an excellent catalyst for selective oxidation of aniline to azoxybenzene using H2O2 as an oxidant. An aniline conversion of 87% with 91% selectivity of azoxybenzene was achieved without the use of any external additives. Moreover, a high stability and recyclability of the catalyst is also observed under the investigated conditions. This journal is

Preyssler-type heteropolyacid supported on TiO2 nanoparticles has been explored as an efficient catalyst in selective oxidation of primary aromatic amines to azoxy derivatives using trans-3,5-dihydroperoxy-3,5-dimethyl- 1,2-dioxolane as oxidant. The reactions proceeded smoothly under mild and green ultrasound-accelerated conditions to afford the products in high yields. The catalyst recovered from the reaction mixture exhibits long-term stability with no significant drop in its catalytic activity. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

Mesoporous titania microspheres composed of nanosheets with exposed active facets were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis in the presence of hexafluorosilicic acid. They exhibited superior catalytic activity in the solvent-free synthesis of azoxybenzene by oxidation of aniline and could be used for 7 cycles with slight loss of activity. The Royal Society of Chemistry.

A highly versatile and flexible gold-based catalytic system has been developed for the controlled and selective transfer reduction of nitroarene using 2-propanol as a convenient hydrogen source under mild conditions. Depending on the specific reaction conditions, multiple products including azoxyarenes, symmetric or asymmetric azoarenes and anilines can be obtained respectively via a controlled reduction of the nitro aromatics with good to excellent yields in the presence of a reusable mesostructured ceria-supported gold (Au/meso-CeO2) catalyst. The overall operational simplicity, high chemoselectivity, functional-group tolerance and reusability of the catalyst make this approach an attractive and reliable tool for organic and process chemists. The Royal Society of Chemistry.

The reduction of nitroarenes to azoxybenzenes by NaOH-PEG 400 in benzene is described. The protocol is facile, economical, and effective.

The synthesis of the azoxybenzenes by the reduction of nitroarenes with reducing agent potassium borohydride in water was reported for the first time. PEG-400 was used as a phase transfer catalyst and could effectively catalyze the reduction. The electronic effects of substituent groups play an important role in determining the reduction efficiencies. Electron-withdrawing substituents promote the formation of the azoxybenzene products, while electron-releasing groups retard the reductions to various degrees depending on the extent of their electron-donating ability.

A solvent-free method for the direct oxidation of anilines to the corresponding azo and azoxy homocoupling products by using a planetary ball mill was developed. Various oxidants and grinding auxiliaries were tested and a variety of substituted anilines were investigated. It was possible to form chemoselectively either azo, azoxy, or the nitro compounds from reaction of aromatic anilines. The selectivity of the solvent-free reaction is switchable by applying a combination of oxidant and grinding auxiliary. Furthermore, a comparison with other methods of energy input (microwave, classical heating, and ultrasound) highlighted the advantages of the ball mill approach and its high energy efficiency. Grinding reactions: Highly efficient oxidative homocoupling of aromatic amines was performed under solvent-free conditions in a planetary ball mill (see scheme). The choice of solid oxidants and grinding auxiliaries allowed selective generation of the oxidized products. Other methods of energy input are compared with respect to reaction time and energy consumption.

Controlling the type of indium salt and hydrosilane enables a highly selective reduction of aromatic nitro compounds into three coupling compounds, azoxybenzenes, azobenzenes and diphenylhydrazines, and one reductive compound, anilines. The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010.

A simple and useful protocol for the reduction of nitro arenes to their corresponding azoxy derivatives by employing zinc and NH4Cl in a mixture of [bmim][BF4] and water is described. The selective reduction of nitro to azoxy is attributed to the hitherto unknown moderating effect of oxygen on zinc metal.

Aromatic nitroso compounds in the presence of base and 2-(α-hydroxyalkyl)-3,4-dimethylthiazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate and related salts furnish in variable yields O- and N-acyl-aryl hydroxylamines and 3,4-dimethylthiazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate. A primary kinetic isotope effect of 4.9, obtained for the appropriate 2α-deuterated thiazolium salt, points to the C2α-H bond cleavage as the rate determining step. Radical species detected by ESR were unambiguously identified as phenylhydronitroxide, but attempted trapping of the corresponding C-heterocyclic radicals by TEMPO was not successful, and substrates incorporating a potential cyclopropyl radical clock gave products with the cyclopropyl ring intact. Theoretical calculations revealed a large activation energy for such reaction, which thus cannot per se exclude the intervention of such radical species. Evidence for the likely operation of two concurrent mechanisms, a radical and a preponderant ionic pathway, involving the conjugate base of the thiazolium salt, as the chemical model for 'active thiamine', and ArNO is presented for the formation of the products of the reaction.

Azoxy compounds have been prepared in good yields by reductive coupling of aromatic nitro compounds with manganese and a catalytic amount of acetic acid in aqueous conditions. Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Ordinarily the reducing ability of HO- in water is extremely low as a result of its stabilization by hydration. Reductions by hydroxide ion have only been observed previously in aprotic organic solvents. We find that several mononitroarenes are reduced to azoxyarenes by NaOH in water in the presence of β-cyclodextrin. HO- acts as a one-electron reductant with enhanced reactivity.

A "sandwich" type polyoxometalate, Na12[(WZn 3(H2O)2][(ZnW9O34) 2], was used as an oxidation catalyst in aqueous biphasic reaction media to effect oxidation of alcohols, diols, pyridine derivatives, amines and aniline derivatives with hydrogen peroxide. The catalyst was shown by 183W NMR to be stable in aqueous solutions in the presence of H 2O2 and showed only minimal non-productive decomposition of the oxidant. Secondary alcohols were selectively oxidized to ketones, while primary alcohols tended to be oxidized to the corresponding carboxylic acids, although secondary alcohols were selectively oxidized in the presence of primary alcohols. Vicinal diols yielded carbon-carbon bond cleavage products in very high yields. Pyridine derivatives were oxidized to the respective TV-oxides, but strongly electron-withdrawing moieties inhibited the oxidation reaction. Primary amines were oxidized to the oximes, but significantly hydrolyzed in situ. Aniline derivatives were oxidized to the corresponding azoxy or nitro products depending on the substitution pattern in the aromatic ring. Catalyst recovery and recycle was demonstrated.

Aromatic azoxy compounds have been prepared in good yields by the selective reduction of aromatic nitro compounds with Zn/AlCl3 reagent.

A matrix-bound superoxide radical anion, generated by treating Ti(OR)4 (R =iPr, nBu) with H2O2, is a selective heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidation of anilines to the corresponding nitroarenes with 50 % aqueous H2O2 [Eq. (1)]. Yields of 82-98 % are obtained, even with anilines bearing electron-withdrawing substituents (R = NO2, COOH).

A silane functionalized by octafluoroacetophenone was polymerized by the sol-gel method to form an insoluble silicate with perfluoroketone pendants; the silicate was used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the activation of aqueous hydrogen peroxide and the oxidation of aromatic amines and alkenes.

2-Acylthiazolium salts, easily obtained by alkylation of the corresponding 2-acylthiazoles with methyl triflate, react with N- arylhydroxylamines to furnish the O-acyl derivatives of relevance in the induction of cancer by aromatic mines.

The liquid phase oxidation of various substituted amines with dil H2O2 and tert-butyl hydroxyperoxide (TBHP) has been investigated over titanium and chromium silicates respectively. While TS-1/H2O2 combination exhibits a remarkable activity and selectivity in the oxidation of arylamines to produce the symmetrical azoxybenzenes, CrS-2 catalyzes the selective oxidation of various substituted amines to the corresponding nitro compounds by oxidation with 70% TBHP. The nature of the reactive intermediates during the oxidation of anilines to nitrobenzenes has been established using cyclic voltammetry experiments. Further, amines possessing α C-H bonds are selectively oxidized to either oximes or the carbonyl compounds on reaction with H2O2 catalyzed by TS-1.

Catalytic version of the H2O2-TS-1 combination has been shown to display a good reaction selectivity in the liquid-phase oxidation of anilines to symmetrical azoxybenzenes.

An activated catalyst prepared from a mixture of nickel nitrate hexahydrate with zinc in dry ethanol under reflux showed exceptional catalytic activity for the reduction of nitroarenes to the corresponding azoxy compounds exclusively in the presence of hydrazine monohydrate.However when nickel nitrate hexahydrate was replaced by nickel chloride dihydrate with zinc, only the aminoarenes were formed in high yields.With unactivated catalyst, the reduction reaction from a mixture of nitroarenes, nickel nitrate or chloride, excess zinc and hydrazine monohydrate gave the corresponding azo, azoxy and amino compounds in much lower yields.

Treatment of aromatic nitro compounds with sodium borohydride in alkaline ethanol in the presence of a catalytic amount of diaryl ditelluride at room temperature affords the corresponding azoxy compounds selectively in fair to excellent yields.Under reflux aromatic azo compounds are obtained as major products.In situ generated sodium arenetellurolate (ArTeNa) is the active species to reduce nitroaromatics into aromatic nitroso compounds, the latter being easily converted into azoxy compounds in alkaline ethanol.Higher temperature enables ArTeNa to reduce the initially produced azoxy compounds into azo compounds.A new vinylic telluride having an azo group in the molecule, 3,3'-bisazobenzene, was prepared in one pot in 66-91percent isolated yield by treating (3-nitrophenyl)acetylene with a stoichiometric amount of ArTeNa in alkaline ethanol at reflux temperature, the structure of which was determined unambiguously by X-ray crystallography.The corresponding 4, 4'-isomer was similarly prepared, but in lower yield.

The complex (η4-Ph4C4C=O)(CO)3Ru (1) is a catalyst precursor in the reduction reaction of nitroarenes to anilines by CO and H2O.Azoxybenzenes and azobenzenes are by-products formed in variable quantities depending on the reaction conditions and the nature of the nitroarene used.Analysis of the reaction solution in the reaction involving nitrobenzene has revealed the presence of several complexes, including (η4-Ph4C4C=O)(CO)2Ru(H2NPh) (5), which was prepared independently; The behaviour of 5 under catalysis conditions was studied.Complex 1 did not catalyze hydrogenation of nitrobenzene.A multi-step catalytic reduction scheme is pr posed.

Treatment of aromatic nitro compounds with sodium borohydride in alkaline ethanol in the presence of a catalytic amount of diphenyl ditelluride at 25 deg C affords the corresponding azoxy compounds selectively in high yields, in situ generated sodium benzenetellurolate being the active species which produces the intermediate aromatic nitroso compounds.

Reduction of substituted nitrobenzenes in alkaline alcoholic solutions affords, depending on the experimental conditions used, either anilines or azoxybenzenes in good yields.In the presence of a methylketone, such as acetophenone, the reaction of nitroarenes with aqueous KOH in 2-propanol provides the corresponding anilines in high yields (80-90 percent).On the other hand, when the reaction is carried out in the CH3OH/toluene/KOH system, in the absence of methylketones, the azoxyderivatives are isolated in 70-90 percent yield.

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The rates of Bamberger-type rearrangement of phenylhydroxylamine (1a) and its derivatives (1b-d) to the corresponding p-aminophenols were determined in sulphuric acid solution.Plots if the pseudo-first-order rate constants against pH (or H0) indicate that the active species at +H2) which exists in equilibrium with the N-protonated species (ArN+H2OH), while the diprotonated species (ArN+H2O+H2) contributes significantly to the observed reaction rate at > 1.00 N (H0 region).The slope of Hammett plots (ρ) which was obtained by plotting kobs at 1.00 N against the Hammett ? values was -3.19.It was also established that the ΔS* values for the four substrates are all positive.These results suggest that the Bamberger rearrangement occurs by an SN1 mechanism and that the elimination of water from ArNHO+H2 is rate determining.

When an equimolar solution of various azoxybenzenes and SbCl5 in carbon tetrachloride were mixed, a 1:1 complex immediately deposited as orange crystals in high yield.The thermal reaction of these complexes in inert solvents gives o-hydroxy-azobenzene selectively.On the contrary, other Lewis acids, such as TiCl4, AlCl3, FeCl3 and ZnBr2 failed to give an isolatable complex with azoxybenzene, and their direct thermal reaction with azoxybenzene resulted in deoxygenation to yield azobenzene as a main product.