When an equimolar solution of various azoxybenzenes and SbCl5 in carbon tetrachloride were mixed, a 1: 1 complex immediately deposited as orange crystals in high yield. The thermal reaction of these complexes in inert solvents gives o-hydroxy-azobenzene selectively. On the contrary, other Lewis acids such as TiCl4, AlCl3, FeCl3 and ZnBr2 failed to give an isolatable complex with azoxybenzene, and their direct thermal reaction with ...