The synthesis and characterization of new 1,2,4-triazolyl and 4-nitro-pyrazoly1 substituted tetrazine ligands has been achieved. The strongly electron deficient 1,2,4-triazoly1 substituted ligands did not coordinate Fe(II) metal centers, while the mildly electron deficient 4-nitro-pyrazoly1 substituted ligands did coor&tate Fe(II) metal centers in a 2:1 ratio of ligand to metal. The thermal stability and mechanical sensitivity characteristics of the complexes are similar to the conventional explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate. The complexes had strong absorption in the visible region of the spectrum that extended into the near -infrared. In spite of having improved oxygen balances, increased mechanical sensitivity, and similar absorption of NIR light to recently reported Fe(II) tetrazine complexes, these newly synthesized explosives were more difficult to initiate with Nd:YAG pulsed laser light. Specifically, the complexes required lower densities (0.9 g/cm(3)) to initiate at the same threshold utilized to initiate previous materials at higher densities (1.05 g/cm(3)).