Nitrogen cations, conjugate bases

This diazotization is typical of many aminoazoles the diazonium ions formed are relatively strong acids. The pATa values of five di-, tri-, and tetrazolediazonium ions are reported to be between 3 and 4, i. e., about 10 units lower (more acidic) than those of the respective unsubstituted heterocycles (Vilarrasa et al., 1974). Therefore, deprotonation of the diazonium ion is easy and, depending on reaction conditions, yields either the diazonium salt or its conjugate base, the diazo compound. The electrophilic reactivity of the P nitrogen atom in the diazo group of the base is lower than the reactivity of the diazonio group of the cation (Diener and Zollinger, 1986 see Sec. 12.2). 

The possible nitrogen analogs of carbonium ions are the cation LIII and its conjugate base LIV. 

The NO+ cation then attacks the lone pair of the amine and dehydration follows. The mechanism is quite simple—it just involves a lot of proton transfers There is, of course, an anion associated with the nitrogen cation, and this will be the conjugate base (Cl- usually) of the acid used to form NO+. 

Pyrazole is a much weaker base than imidazole. Both have resonance-stabilized conjugate acids (Figure 14) but in the case of the pyrazolium cation 64 the direct linking of the quaternary nitrogens has a base-weakening effect. This additional effect also contributes to the low basicities of isothiazoles and isoxazoles (65 and 66). 

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