A pulse radiolysis study of six parasubstituted benzenediazonium salts, X−C6H4N2
+ [X = COOC2H5, F, H,
CH3, OCH3, and N(CH3)2], has been carried out in neutral aqueous solutions, where the principal reductant
is the solvated electron. In the first step, the solvated electron reduces the diazonium salts to the corresponding
diazenyl radicals, X−C6H4N2
•
, in a diffusion-controlled process. On a short time scale, X−C6H4N2
•
is either
involved in an equilibrium reaction with the parent diazonium salt (K > 100 M-1) in which a (X−C6H4)2N4
•
+
adduct is formed or decays to the aryl radical, X−C6H4
•
, through the expulsion of dinitrogen. Simulation of
this kinetic scheme allows us to make a rough determination of the rate constants involved. The rate constants
for the formation of the adducts are in the range (0.7−1.9) × 107 M-1 s-1, whereas the fragmentation rate
constants are in the range (0.4−4.0) × 105 s-1. The aryl radicals subsequently attack the diazonium salts
mainly at the terminal nitrogen atom with rate constants of (0.13−5.9) × 107 M-1 s-1, thereby forming the
radical cations of the corresponding azobenzenes, (X−C6H4)2N2
•
+, or eventually the corresponding OH adducts,
(X−C6H4)2N2OH
•
, upon further reaction with water. These intermediates were identified in pulse radiolysis
by generating the very same species through an alternative pathway involving oxidation of the parent
azobenzenes. The reaction between the aryl radical and the salt exhibits a clear substituent effect in the sense
that the reactivity increases as the electron-donating power of the substituent is enhanced. This is attributed
to the stabilizing effect exerted by electron-donating groups on radical cations. Thus, the radical cations can
be detected only for the methoxy and dimethylamino groups, whereas for the other substituents the
transformation of (X−C6H4)2N2
•
+ to (X−C6H4)2N2OH
•
takes place instantaneously.