Magic acid free generation of antiaromatic dications at room temperature

The reaction of weakly electrophilic aryldiazonium (also called arenediazonium) salts with highly activated aromatic compounds leads to the formation of products with an —N=N— link, called an azo linkage. This reaction, presented in Figure 1, is known as diazo coupling and occurs without the loss of the nitrogen atoms of the aryldiazonium salt. Highly activated aromatic compounds such as phenols or arylamines favor the diazo coupling reaction. The coupling generally occurs at the para position.

Nitrous acid, a weak acid, is prepared in situ via the reaction of sodium nitrite with a strong acid under cold conditions. This nitrous acid prepared in situ reacts with primary arylamines to form arenediazonium salts. Such reactions are known as diazotization reactions. As shown in Figure 1, the formation of arenediazonium salts begins with the decomposition of nitrous acid in an acidic solution to give nitrosonium ions.

Nitrous acid is a relatively weak and unstable acid prepared in situ by the reaction of sodium nitrite and cold, dilute hydrochloric acid. In an acidic solution, the nitrous acid undergoes protonation when it loses water to form a nitrosonium ion—an electrophile. Nitrous acid reacts with primary amines to give diazonium salts. The reaction is called diazotization of primary amines.

Arenediazonium substitution reactions occur when the diazonium group is substituted by various functional groups such as halides, hydroxyl, nitrile, etc. For instance, arenediazonium salts react with copper(I) salts of chloride, bromide, or cyanide to form corresponding aryl chlorides, bromides, and nitriles. These reactions are named Sandmeyer reactions. Although the mechanism of this reaction is complicated, as illustrated in Figure 1, they are believed to progress via an aryl copper...

Treating arylamines with nitrous acid gives aryldiazonium salts that are effective substrates in nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions. The diazonio group in these salts can be easily displaced by different nucleophiles, yielding a wide variety of substituted benzenes. The leaving group departs as nitrogen gas, and this easy elimination is the driving force for the substitution reaction.
In the Sandmeyer reaction, for example, the diazonio group is replaced by a chloro, bromo, or cyano...

Bromination and chlorination of aromatic rings by electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions are easily achieved, but fluorination and iodination are difficult to achieve. Fluorine is so reactive that its reaction with benzene is difficult to control, resulting in poor yields of monofluoroaromatic products. To address this, Selectfluor reagent is used as a fluorine source in which a fluorine atom is bonded to a positively charged nitrogen.