The conversion proceeds via diazotization of one of the amine groups:[7][8] The synthesis can be improved when the reaction is carried out at low temperatures (5–10 °C) and briefly sonicated in an ultrasonic bath.

Applying this property, the BTA can form a stable coordination compound on a copper surface and behave as a corrosion inhibitor.

It has already been used as a restrainer (or anti-fogging agent) in photographic emulsions or developing solutions, and as a reagent for the analytical determination of silver.

Besides all the applications mentioned above, the BTA can be used as antifreezes, heating and cooling systems, hydraulic fluids, and vapor-phase inhibitors as well.

[citation needed] Benzotriazole derivatives have chemical and biological properties that are versatile in the pharmaceutical industry.

Hence, it is only partly removed in wastewater treatment plants and a substantial fraction reaches surface water such as rivers and lakes.

[16] Tolyltriazole is a mixture of isomers or congeners that differ from benzotriazole by the addition of one methyl group attached somewhere on the benzene ring.