Synthesis, structure, and synthetic potential of arenediazonium trifluoromethanesulfonates as stable and safe diazonium salts

Aromatic diazonium salts are valuable building blocks for organic synthesis; however, in most cases, they are unstable, unsafe, poorly soluble, and/or expensive. In this paper, we have shown that a variety of stable and safe arenediazonium triflates ArN₂ ⁺ TfO^– can be obtained easily and in high yields by diazotization of anilines with tert-butyl nitrite in the presence of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid. Arenediazonium triflates are relatively shelf-stable in the dry state. They dissolve well in water, as well as polar and even nonpolar organic solvents. Less than 800 J/g of energy is released during the thermal decomposition of these salts, which indicates their explosion safety. Arenediazonium triflates have a high reactivity in the known reactions of diazonium chemistry, and undergo an unusual metal-free chlorodediazonization reaction with chloroform and CCl₄.