Insight into the Stability of Pentazolyl Derivatives based on Covalent Bond

Pentazole is regarded as a unique inorganic molecule that possess organic heterocyclic structure. Therefore, the research on pentazolyl derivatives represents a cutting-edge direction in both contemporary inorganic chemistry and heterocyclic chemistry. Moreover, their synthesis is regarded as the most significant research topic in the field of energetic materials due to the great potential of pentazolyl derivatives to breakthrough the energy bottleneck of CHNO-based energetic materials. However, synthesizing pentazolyl derivatives is challenging. To provide a theoretical support for the synthesis, we conducted theoretical studies on six single-ring pentazolyl derivatives with different functional groups. The results suggest that derivatization reduces the bond strength and weakens the aromaticity of the pentazolate ring. Further analysis showed that derivatization mainly affects the π aromaticity of the pentazolate ring, and ultimately causing poor stability of the pentazolyl derivatives. Among the six derivatives investigated in this study, fluoro pentazole (cyclo-N₅-F) and hydroxyl pentazole (cyclo-N₅-OH) possess good aromaticity, which is similar to the reported cyclo-N₅-NCHN(CH₃)₂. Further calculations show that the kinetic stability of cyclo-N₅-OH is higher than that of cyclo-N₅-F. These results collectively indicate that cyclo-N₅-OH is a promising candidate for synthesizing single-ring pentazolyl derivatives.