Abstract Pentafluoronitrosobenzene reacts readily with aniline and with p-methoxyaniline to give the corresponding 2, 3, 4, 5,-6-pentafluoroazobenzenes (1a and 1b) in good yield. Minor components detected by nmr, spectroscopy in the analytically pure products are shown by a combination of lanthanide-induced shift studies and photochemical reactions to be the cis-azo compounds these cis-azo compounds are unusually stable in the dark, with ...