Benzene nitric acid reaction

Tetryl. In the manufacture of Tetryl, it is usual not to nitrate dime thy laniline directly, but to dissolve it first in coned sulfuric acid and then to nitrate the dimethylaniline sulfate so obtained. Direct nitration of dimethylaniline proceeds so violently that it can be carried out only under specialized conditions. Many years experience of Tetryl manufacture has shown that the ratio of sulfuric acid to dimethylaniline should not be lower than 3 1, since a smaller amount of sulfuric acid may be detrimental to the nitration process. However, the ratio of sulfuric acid to dimethylaniline must not be too high, otherwise Tetryl yield is decreased. Temp must be maintained between 20-45° to avoid sulfonation of the benzene ring. Care must be exercised not to leave any unreacted dimethylaniline prior to introduction of nitric acid, because of the potential violence of the dimethyl-aniline-nitric acid reaction. Consequently, continuous methods of prepn are to be preferred as they inherently minimize accumulation of unreacted dimethylaniline... 

The most widely used reactions are those of electrophilic substitution, and under controlled conditions a maximum of three substituting groups, e.g. -NO2 (in the 1,3,5 positions) can be introduced by a nitric acid/sul-phuric acid mixture. Hot cone, sulphuric acid gives sulphonalion whilst halogens and a Lewis acid catalyst allow, e.g., chlorination or brom-ination. Other methods are required for introducing fluorine and iodine atoms. Benzene undergoes the Friedel-Crafts reaction. ... 

A brief account of aromatic substitution may be usefully given here as it will assist the student in predicting the orientation of disubstituted benzene derivatives produced in the different substitution reactions. For the nitration of nitrobenzene the substance must be heated with a mixture of fuming nitric acid and concentrated sulphuric acid the product is largely ni-dinitrobenzene (about 90 per cent.), accompanied by a little o-dinitrobenzene (about 5 per cent.) which is eliminated in the recrystallisation process. On the other hand phenol can be easily nitrated with dilute nitric acid to yield a mixture of ortho and para nitrophenols. It may be said, therefore, that orientation is meta with the... 

Benzene and some of its derivatives react with solutions of mercuric nitrate in concentrated nitric acid to give nitrophenols. These reactions, known as oxynitrations may proceed by mercuration followed by nitroso-demercuration the resulting nitroso compound becomes a diazonium compound and then a phenol, which is nitrated. ... 

The kinetics of nitration in acetic anhydride are complicated. In addition to the initial reaction between nitric acid and the solvent, subsequent reactions occur which lead ultimately to the formation of tetranitromethane furthermore, the observation that acetoxylation accompanies the nitration of the homologues of benzene adds to this complexity. 

A silicon atom might be expected to release electrons inductively, but because of empty 7-orbitals shows the overall character ( + 7 —717). Nitration of trimethylsilylbenzene with nitric acid in acetic anhydride at —10 to o °C gives 25-5,39-8,30-2 and 6-8 %, respectively, of 0-, m-, and /)-nitro-trimethylsilylbenzene and nitrobenzene, with a rate of reaction relative to that of benzene of about 1-5. The figures give no indication of an important conjugative effect. 

Nitrations can be performed in homogeneous media, using tetramethylene sulfone or nitromethane (nitroethane) as solvent. A large variety of aromatic compounds have been nitrated with nitronium salts in excellent yields in nonaqueous media. Sensitive compounds, otherwise easily hydroly2ed or oxidized by nitric acid, can be nitrated without secondary effects. Nitration of aromatic compounds is considered an irreversible reaction. However, the reversibihty of the reaction has been demonstrated in some cases, eg, 9-nitroanthracene, as well as pentamethylnitrobenzene transnitrate benzene, toluene, and mesitylene in the presence of superacids (158) (see Nitration). 

Environmental aspects, as well as the requirement of efficient mixing in the mixed acid process, have led to the development of single-phase nitrations. These can be divided into Hquid- and vapor-phase nitrations. One Hquid-phase technique involves the use of > 98% by weight nitric acid, with temperatures of 20—60°C and atmospheric pressure (21). The molar ratios of nitric acid benzene are 2 1 to 4 1. After the reaction is complete, excess nitric acid is vacuum distilled and recycled. An analogous process is used to simultaneously produce a nitrobenzene and dinitrotoluene mixture (22). A conversion of 100% is obtained without the formation of nitrophenols or nitrocresols. The nitrobenzene and dinitrotoluene are separated by distillation. 

Benzene reacts with concentrated sulfuric acid and formaldehyde to produce a brown precipitate. A similar reaction occurs with ferrous sulfate and hydrogen peroxide. The resulting brown soHd is dissolved in nitric acid for comparison with color standards. 

After this reaction-time, the evolution of hydrogen is ceased. Then there are added successively 60 parts dimethylformamide and 8 parts of p-chlorobenzylchloride and stirring and refluxing is continued for another two hours. The tetrahydrofuran is removed at atmospheric pressure. The dimethylformamide solution is poured onto water. The product, 1-[2,4-dichloro-/3-(p-chlorobenzyloxy)phenethyl] imidazole, is extracted with benzene. The extract is washed with water, dried, filtered and evaporated in vacuo. From the residual oily free base, the nitrate salt is prepared in the usual manner in 2-propanol by treatment with concentrated nitric acid, yielding, after recrystallization of the crude solid salt from a mixture of 2-propanol, methanol and diisopropylether, 1-[2,4-dichloro-/3-(p-chlorobenzyl-oxylphenethyl] imidazole nitrate MP 162°C. 

Aromatic hydrocarbons, like paraffin hydrocarbons, react by substitution, but by a different reaction mechanism and under milder conditions. Aromatic compounds react by addition only under severe conditions. For example, electrophilic substitution of benzene using nitric acid produces nitrobenzene under normal conditions, while the addition of hydrogen to benzene occurs in presence of catalyst only under high pressure to... 

Similar to the alkylation and the chlorination of benzene, the nitration reaction is an electrophilic substitution of a benzene hydrogen (a proton) with a nitronium ion (NO ). The liquid-phase reaction occurs in presence of both concentrated nitric and sulfuric acids at approximately 50°C. Concentrated sulfuric acid has two functions it reacts with nitric acid to form the nitronium ion, and it absorbs the water formed during the reaction, which shifts the equilibrium to the formation of nitrobenzene ... 

During oxidn of mesitylene with nitric acid in an autoclave at 115° to give 3,5-dimethylbenzoic acid, a violent expln occurred. The reaction was attributed to local overheating, formation of a trinitro compd, 1,3,5-tri (nitromethyl) benzene, and to violent decompn of the latter. Smaller scale prepns with better temp control were uneventful (Ref 3)... 

The nitration of some heterocyclic compounds by nitric acid in sulphuric acid has been studied by Katritzky et al.s0 d and the results are exactly as expected in that electron-supplying substituents in the ring favour reaction on the conjugate acid whereas electron-withdrawing substituents produce reaction on the free base. Rate coefficients and the kinetic parameters for nitration of pyridine derivatives (and some benzene analogues)50 are given in Table 4a. 

Kinetic studies with benzene in acetic anhydride containing 0.4-2 M nitric acid at 25 °C show the reaction to be first-order in benzene and approximately second-order in nitric acid this falls to first-order in nitric acid on addition of sulphuric acid, which also increases the first-order rate coefficient (first-order in benzene) from 4.5 x 10-4 to 6.1 x 10 4. By contrast the addition of as little as 0.001 M sodium nitrate reduced the rate to 0.9 x 10-4 without affecting the kinetic order70. These results were, therefore, interpreted as nitration by nitronium ion via equilibria (21a) and (22). 

The Husemann and Erdmann identification reactions for morphine and codeine in the DAB 9 (German Pharmacopoeia) involve the formation of the red-colored ortho-quinone (8) via apomorphine (5) under the influence of nitric acid with the simultaneous nitration of the benzene ring [15]. 

Up to three of the hydrogens on a benzene ring can be replaced with a nitro (-NO2) group by reaction of nitric acid in sulfuric acid. When two hydrogens are replaced by nitro in this manner (dinitration), one isomer, the meta- or 1,3-, predominates. When three hydrogens are replaced (trinitration), the predominant isomer is the 1,3,5-isomer mera-dinitrobenzene is made by this method as a starting material for mera-phenylenediamine, one of the components in the manufacture of a heat-resistant nylon sold in the U.S. as Nomex by DuPont. 

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