Although available commercially, diethyl azodicarboxylate can be prepared fresh in the laboratory, especially if required in pure, non-diluted form. A two-step synthesis starts from hydrazine, first by alkylation with ethyl chloroformate, followed by treating the resulting diethyl hydrazodicarboxylate with chlorine (bubbling through the solution), hypochlorous acid, concentrated nitric acid or red fuming nitric acid. The reaction is carried out in an ice bath, and the reagents are added dropwise so that the temperature does not rise above 20 °C. Diethyl hydrazodicarboxylate is a solid with melting temperature of 131–133 °C which is collected as a residue; it is significantly more stable to heating than DEAD and is conventionally dried at a temperature of about 80 °C.