“…Aromatic azoxy compounds are key materials for electronic devices based on their liquid crystalline properties, while azo compounds are important as the backbone for a variety of dyestuffs. Azoxyarenes 2 are obtained directly from nitroarenes 1 by heating with alcoholic KOH, sodium alkoxide, or zinc/NaOH, reduction with sodium borohydride, lithium aluminum hydride or sodium arsenite, treatment with magnesium, samarium, or thallium metal in alcohol, catalytic reduction over palladium, alkaline reduction with phosphine or glucose, and electrochemical reduction . Aromatic azo compounds 3 are directly obtainable from nitro compounds 1 by reduction with zinc/NaOH, lithium aluminum hydride 21 or dicobalt octacarbonyl, and by high-temperature reaction with ethanolamines …”