Reduction of nitrobenzene

It is prepared by reduction of nitrobenzene with iron and NaOH. It is also prepared by an electrolytic reduction of nitrobenzene. It is widely used for the preparation of benzidine. 

Azoxybenzene is readily prepared by reduction of nitrobenzene in an alkaline medium with dextrose or sodium arsenite ... 

Reduction of nitrobenzene in methyl or ethyl alcoholic sodium hydroxide solution with zinc powder leads to azobenzene or hydrazobenzene according to the proportion of zinc powder employed ... 

AMNES - AMINES, AROMATIC - ANILINE AND ITS DERIVATIVES] (Vol 2) -reduction of nitrobenzene NITROBENZENE AND NITROTOLUENES] (Vol 17)... 

The reduction of the nitro group to yield aniline is the most commercially important reaction of nitrobenzene. Usually the reaction is carried out by the catalytic hydrogenation of nitrobenzene, either in the gas phase or in solution, or by using iron borings and dilute hydrochloric acid (the Bechamp process). Depending on the conditions, the reduction of nitrobenzene can lead to a variety of products. The series of reduction products is shown in Figure 1 (see Amines byreduction). Nitrosobenzene, /V-pbenylbydroxylamine, and aniline are primary reduction products. Azoxybenzene is formed by the condensation of nitrosobenzene and /V-pbenylbydroxylamine in alkaline solutions, and azoxybenzene can be reduced to form azobenzene and hydrazobenzene. The reduction products of nitrobenzene under various conditions ate given in Table 2. 

The Faux process is a modification of the Bechamp reaction that was discovered in 1854. It has been used for the reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline using metallic iron ... 

Aniline (hen enamine) [62-53-3] is the simplest of the primary aromatic amines. It was first produced ia 1826 by dry distillation of indigo. In 1840 the same oily hquid was obtained by heating indigo with potash, and it was given the name aniline. The stmcture of aniline was estabUshed in 1843 with the demonstration that it could be obtained by reduction of nitrobenzene. 

Aromatic amines can be produced by reduction of the corresponding nitro compound, the ammonolysis of an aromatic haUde or phenol, and by direct amination of the aromatic ring. At present, the catalytic reduction of nitrobenzene is the predominant process for manufacture of aniline. To a smaller extent aniline is also produced by ammonolysis of phenol. 

Fig. 3. Continuous fluidized-bed vapor phase reduction of nitrobenzene.

In the reduction of nitro compounds to amines, several of the iatermediate species are stable and under the right conditions, it is possible to stop the reduction at these iatermediate stages and isolate the products (see Figure 1, where R = CgH ). Nitrosoben2ene [586-96-9] C H NO, can be obtained by electrochemical reduction of nitrobenzene [98-95-3]. Phenylhydroxylamine, C H NHOH, is obtained when nitrobenzene reacts with ziac dust and calcium chloride ia an alcohoHc solution. When a similar reaction is carried out with iron or ziac ia an acidic solution, aniline is the reduction product. Hydrazobenzene [122-66-7] formed when nitrobenzene reacts with ziac dust ia an alkaline solution. Azoxybenzene [495-48-7], C22H2QN2O, is... 

The chemical production of aminophenols via the reduction of nitrobenzene occurs in two stages. Nitrobenzene [98-95-3] is first selectively reduced with hydrogen in the presence of Raney copper to phenylhydroxylamine in an organic solvent such as 2-propanol (37). With the addition of dilute sulfuric acid, nucleophilic attack by water on the aromatic ring of /V-phenylhydroxylamine [100-65-2] takes place to form 2- and 4-aminophenol. The by-product, 4,4 -diaminodiphenyl ether [13174-32-8] presumably arises in a similar manner from attack on the ring by a molecule of 4-aminophenol (38,39). Aniline [62-53-3] is produced via further reduction (40,41). 

If the reduction of nitrobenzene takes place in neutral solution with zinc dust and water in presence of a little calcium or ammonium chloride, or with aluminium-mercury couple and watei, /d-phenylhydio. ylamme is formed (see Prep. 52, p. 14S). 

About 250 ml of a reaction mixture obtained by the electrolytic reduction of nitrobenzene in sulfuric acid solution and containing about 23 grams of p-aminophenol by assay is neutralized while at a temperature of 60° to 65°C, to a pH of 4.5 with calcium carbonate. The calcium sulfate precipitate which forms is filtered off, the precipitate washed with hot water at about 65°C and the filtrate and wash water then combined. The solution is then extracted twice with 25 ml portions of benzene and the aqueous phase is treated with 0.5 part by weight, for each part of p-aminophenol present, of activated carbon and the latter filtered off. The activated carbon is regenerated by treatment with hot dilute caustic followed by a hot dilute acid wash, and reused a minimum of three times. 

Ti/TiOa electrodes manufactured by impregnating a Ti surface with a soluble Tp compound and subsequent baking in air can be used for reduction processes with Ti " or Ti" species as proposed catalytic intermediates. The usefulness of such electrodes was demonstrated by the reduction of nitrobenzene in 1 M HjSO /CHjOH (1 1)... 

Because aromatic nitro compounds such as nitrobenzene had been reduced by hexamethyldisilane 857 at 240 °C to give azobenzene and aniline [84], we slowly added hexamethyldisilane 857 in THF to a solution of nitrobenzene and 0.05 equivalents of Bu4NF-2-3H20 and obtained, via the probable intermediates 1000-1002, azobenzene in 84% yield [85]. Because azoxybenzene 961 affords azobenzene in 95% yield, azoxybenzene 961 is a probable intermediate in the reduction of nitrobenzene [85] (Scheme 7.26). 

A similar reduction of nitrobenzene with (Me3Si)2Hg to give azobenzene and azoxybenzene has been described [86]. The dehydration of tetrabutylammonium fluoride di- or trihydrate by hexamethyldisilane 857 is discussed in Chapter 13. 

Chiral recognition of A-[Co(phen)3]3+ has been observed in a modified /3-cyclodextrin.772 Chiral discrimination has also been seen in photoinduced energy transfer from luminescent chiral lanthanoid complexes773 to [Co(phen)3]3+ and between photoexcited [Ru(bpy)3]2+ and [Co(phen)3]3+ co-adsorbed on smectite clays.774 The [Co(bpy)3]3+ ion has been incorporated into clays to generate ordered assemblies and also functional catalysts. When adsorbed onto hectorite, [Co(bpy)3]3+ catalyzes the reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline.775 The ability of [Co(phen)3]3+ to bind to DNA has been intensively studied, and discussion of this feature is deferred until Section 6.1.3.1.4. 

The reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline is a major industrial process at the heart of the production of polyurethanes, and it is also often used as a marker reaction to compare activities of catalysts [1,2], It can be performed over a variety of catalysts and in a variety of solvents. As well as its main use in polymethanes, aniline is used in a wide range of industries such as dyes, agrochemicals, by further reaction and functionalisation. Reductive alkylation is one such way of functionalising aromatic amines [3, 4], The reaction usually takes place between an amine and a ketone, aldehyde or alcohol. However it is possible to reductively alkylate direct from the nitro precursor to the amine and in this way remove a processing step. In this study we examined the reductive alkylation of nitrobenzene and aniline by 1-hexanol. 

The intercalated catalysts can often be regarded as biomimetic oxidation catalysts. The intercalation of cationic metal complexes in the interlamellar space of clays often leads to increased catalytic activity and selectivity, due to the limited orientations by which the molecules are forced to accommodate themselves between sheets. The clays have electrostatic fields in their interlayer therefore, the intercalated metal complexes are more positively charged. Such complexes may show different behavior. For example, cationic Rh complexes catalyze the regioselective hydrogenation of carbonyl groups, whereas neutral complexes are not active.149 Cis-Alkenes are hydrogenated preferentially on bipyridyl-Pd(II) acetate intercalated in montmorillonite.150 The same catalyst was also used for the reduction of nitrobenzene.151... 

Zinc residues from reduction of nitrobenzene to N-phenylhydroxylam inc are often pyrophoric and must be kept wet dining disposal. 

Very interestingly, contrary to the water-gas rates, the most active catalysts for the reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline in water-gas shift conditions were those containing the sterically hindered 2-picoline and 2,6-lutidine. 

A process for the direct reduction of nitrobenzene to -p-ammophenol, an important intermediate for the production of dyes, depends on the above interesting transformation. Nitrobenzene in alcoholic solution is mixed with concentrated sulphuric acid and electrolysed with a lead cathode. This process proves that phenylhydroxylamine is also an intermediate in the reduction of nitrobenzene in acid solution, as was mentioned above. Here, as a result of the rapidity of the rearrangement which takes place, it is not converted into aniline. 

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