Nitration, aromatic transfer

Multi-phase processing of nitrated aromatics is also described in [31], including both organic and aqueous phases. Side reaction take place in the organic phase, whereas all other reactions occur in the aqueous phase and are limited by organic solubility. For this reason, enabling mass transfer by large interfaces is a key to affect product selectivity. 

The unique hydride abstraction property has been gainfully employed in developing novel synthetic reactions.530 Reactive hydrocarbons such as triphenylmethane, adamantane, and diamantane are readily fluorinated in the presence of nitrosonium ion in HF-pyridine media.537 In the presence of a suitable oxygen donor such as dimethyl sulfoxide, the nitrosonium ion can act as a nitrating agent538 [Eq. (4.152)]. The initially formed nitrito onium ion 223 transfer nitrates aromatics rather readily.245 The NO+-induced reactions are further reviewed in Chapter 5. 

The second broad grouping of papers (Chapters 11—16) considers both the chemistry and physical transfer steps between phases which often occur during nitration. In aromatic nitrations using mixed acids, for example, the presence of two immiscible liquid phases complicates the nitration reaction. Agitation to emulsify the two phases is necessary to obtain adequate contact between the hydrocarbon and the nitrating species. Transfer of reactants and products, heat transfer, nature of emulsion, etc. are key factors. 

Most ionic nitrations are performed at 0—120°C. For nitrations of most aromatics, there are two Hquid phases an organic and an acid phase. Sufficient pressure, usually slightly above atmospheric, is provided to maintain the Hquid phases. A large interfacial area between the two phases is needed to expedite transfer of the reactants to the interface and of the products from the interface. The site of the main reactions is often at or close to the interface (2). To provide large interfacial areas, a mechanical agitator is frequently used. 

Manufacture and Processing. Mononitrotoluenes are produced by the nitration of toluene in a manner similar to that described for nitrobenzene. The presence of the methyl group on the aromatic ring faciUtates the nitration of toluene, as compared to that of benzene, and increases the ease of oxidation which results in undesirable by-products. Thus the nitration of toluene generally is carried out at lower temperatures than the nitration of benzene to minimize oxidative side reactions. Because toluene nitrates at a faster rate than benzene, the milder conditions also reduce the formation of dinitrotoluenes. Toluene is less soluble than benzene in the acid phase, thus vigorous agitation of the reaction mixture is necessary to maximize the interfacial area of the two phases and the mass transfer of the reactants. The rate of a typical industrial nitration can be modeled in terms of a fast reaction taking place in a zone in the aqueous phase adjacent to the interface where the reaction is diffusion controlled. 

One aspect of aromatic nitration that has received attention is the role of charge-transfer and electron-transfer intermediates on the path to the ff-complex intermediate. For... 

Nitration of benzofuroxans (Section VII, A) and decomposition of polynitrophenyl azides, provide generally satisfactory routes to nitrobenzofuroxans. The nitro groups render the ring susceptible to nucleophilic attack (see Section VII,B). 4,6-Dinitrobenzofuroxan, 5,6-dinitrobenzofuroxan, and nitrobenzodifuroxan (34) act as acceptors in change-transfer complex formation with aromatic hydrocarbons. Nitrobenzofuroxans have not been reduced to the... 

One example of normal-phase liquid chromatography coupled to gas chromatography is the determination of alkylated, oxygenated and nitrated polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) in urban air particulate extracts (97). Since such extracts are very complex, LC-GC is the best possible separation technique. A quartz microfibre filter retains the particulate material and supercritical fluid extraction (SPE) with CO2 and a toluene modifier extracts the organic components from the dust particles. The final extract is then dissolved in -hexane and analysed by NPLC. The transfer at 100 p.1 min of different fractions to the GC system by an on-column interface enabled many PACs to be detected by an ion-trap detector. A flame ionization detector (PID) and a 350 p.1 loop interface was used to quantify the identified compounds. The experimental conditions employed are shown in Table 13.2. 

Moreover, the thermal nitration of various aromatic substrates with different X-PyNO cations shows the strong rate dependence on the acceptor strength of X-PyNO and the aromatic donor strength. This identifies the influence of the HOMO-LUMO gap in the EDA complexes (see Chart 3), and thus provides electron-transfer activation as the viable mechanistic basis for the aromatic nitration. Indeed, the graphic summary in Fig. 18 for toluene nitration depicts the isomeric composition of o-, m- and p-nitrotoluene to be singularly invariant over a wide range of substrate selectivities (k/kQ based on the benzene... 

Nitration versus alkylation. Upon the CT irradiation of an orange solution of the charge-transfer complex, the color bleaches rapidly, and either an aromatic nitration product (i.e. 3-nitro-4-methoxytoluene) or an aromatic alkylation product (i.e. 3-trinitromethyl-4-methoxytoluene) is obtained in high yield depending on the reaction conditions summarized in Scheme 22.4lc... 

Aromatic nitrosation with nitrosonium (NO + ) cation - unlike electrophilic nitration with nitronium (NO ) cation - is restricted to very reactive (electron-rich) substrates such as phenols and anilines.241 Electrophilic nitrosation with NO+ is estimated to be about 14 orders of magnitude less effective than nitration with N02+. 242 Such an unusually low reactivity of NO+ toward aromatic donors (as compared to that of NO ) is not a result of the different electron-acceptor strengths of these cationic acceptors since their (reversible) electrochemical reduction potentials are comparable. In order to pinpoint the origin of such a reactivity difference, let us examine the nitrosation reaction in the light of the donor-acceptor association and the electron-transfer paradigm as follows. 

Charge-transfer activation as the unifying theme in electrophilic aromatic substitution — nitration 237... 

Charge-transfer nitration of aromatic donors with tetranitromethane 237 Simultaneous electrophilic and charge-transfer nitration of aromatic donors with A-nitropyridinium ion 241... 

CHARGE-TRANSFER NITRATION OF AROMATIC DONORS WITH TETRANITROMETHANE... 

As useful as tetranitromethane is as a charge-transfer nitrating agent, it is generally too unreactive to effect the comparable electrophilic nitration of most aromatic donors, except the most electron-rich ones. Thus in order to make the direct comparison between the photochemical and thermal nitration of the same ArH, we now turn to the A-nitropyridinium acceptor (PyNOj) as the alternative nitrating agent (Olah et al., 1965, 1980). For example, PyNO can be readily prepared as a colourless crystalline salt, free of any adventitious nitrosonium impurity, and used under essentially neutral conditions. Most importantly, the electrophilic reactivity of this... 

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