Syntheses of [1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]benzazoles enabled by the transition-metal-free oxidative N–N bond formation

A transition-metal-free oxidative N–N bond formation strategy was developed to generate various structurally interesting [1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]benzazoles efficiently. The mechanism of the key oxidative N–N bond formation was investigated by using an intramolecular competition reaction. Notably, the first single crystal structure was also obtained to confirm the structure of 2-aryl[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]benzimidazole.