The Reaction of Some N-(Nitrophenyl)azoles With Alkali: Preparation of the Corresponding Azoxybenzenes. X-Ray Structure of 2,2′-Bis(1″,2″,4″-triazol-1″-yl)azoxybenzene

Abstract

The reactions of some representative N-( nitrophenyl )azoles with boiling aqueous ethanolic potassium hydroxide solution gave the corresponding bis ( azolyl ) azoxybenzenes . It is deduced that, in these reactions, the N-attached azolyl groups concerned are acting as weak electron-withdrawing groups. The structure of 2,2′-bis(1″,2″,4″-triazol-1″-yl) azoxybenzene was determined in the solid state by X-ray crystallography. The monoclinic crystals belong to the space group P2₁/c with a 8.815(1), b 7.863(1), c 11.836(1) Ǻ, β 109.96(1)° and Z 2. The structure was refined to an R index of 0.041 for 1172 observed terms. The midpoint of the exocyclic N=N bond lies on an inversion centre so that the azoxy oxygen is statistically distributed between two sites. The benzene ring atoms are coplanar to within experimental error, as are the triazole ring atoms, and the dihedral angle between the perpendiculars to the two rings is 35.3(3)°.