Chemical properties of N'-cyanodiazene N-oxides. Reactions involving the nitrile group

The reactivity of the nitrile group in N'-cyanodiazene N-oxides has been examined for the first time. A general approach to the synthesis of nitrogenous functional derivatives of azoxycarboxylic acids by reaction of N'-cyanodiazene N-oxides with nucleophiles (water, alcohol, and hydroxylamine) is described. A method of synthesis of novel azoxy-1,2,4-oxadiazoles and tetrazoles has been developed in which aliphatic, aromatic, or heterocyclic N'-cyanodiazene N-oxides are reacted with benzonitrile N-oxide or sodium azide. Trimerization of N-cyanodiazene N-oxides, catalyzed by anhydrous HCl, has given novel symm-triazines in which the heterocycle bears three diazene N-oxide groups.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 7, pp. 1647–1653, July, 1991.