1,2,4,5-Tetrazines as platform molecules for energetic materials and pharmaceuticals

This short review provides various routes for the synthesis of sym-tetrazines and their potential applications mainly as energetic compounds and pharmaceuticals. Sym-tetrazines can be synthesized from variable chemical sources such as nitriles, imidates, amidines, thioamidines and substituted hydrazines. Moreover, these molecules have high positive enthalpies of formation and the nitrogen rich ring system is redox active capable of reversibly forming a stable radical anion, therefore promoting their use in the preparation of energetic materials and fluorescent compounds.