“…The dissociation constants of the reagent were found to be pK 1 ¼ 5.90 AE 0.03 and pK 2 ¼ 9.67 AE 0.04. Earlier, it was assumed (Gadjieva, Pashaev et al 2007;Gadjieva et al 2008;Alieva et al 2009;Gadjieva, Mursalov, Mahmudov, Pashaev et al 2006) that ADB occurs in three tautomeric forms (enol-azo, keto-azo and hydrazo, Scheme 2), and, according to quantum chemical calculations performed on similar compounds, pK 1 characterizes the proton abstraction from the ÀOH group of the aromatic ring situated in the ortho position to the hydrazo group of the molecule, while pK 2 concerns the deprotonation of the hydrazone group (=NÀNHÀ) .…”