Alkyl diazene compounds serve an important role as a precursor for the generation of tertiary radicals, which find use in a range of applications such as initiators for radical polymerization and coupling partners for the formation of sterically encumbered quaternary centers. Current processes for the synthesis of alkyl diazenes involve multi-step sequences and the use of strong electrophiles and oxidants. Herein we report the first direct synthesis of alkyl diazenes through a dinuclear cobalt catalyzed homodimerization reaction of tertiary alkyl azides. A dinuclear cobalt complex is uniquely adept at performing the transformation relative to dinuclear nickel, and mononuclear nickel and cobalt systems offering a diverse array of functionalized alkyl diazene products.

Dinuclear cobalt catalyzed dimerization of alkyl azides

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