BRAINCAKENitration of Benzene
Nitration puts a nitro group, NO2, onto a benzene ring. It is an electrophilic substitution.
Reagents and conditions: benzene is warmed with a mixture of concentrated nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid (the nitrating mixture) at about 50 °C. The temperature must be kept at or below this: at higher temperatures more than one nitro group is substituted, giving 1,3-dinitrobenzene.
Forming the electrophile. The sulfuric acid reacts with the nitric acid to form the electrophile NO2+, the nitronium ion:
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Key terms in this lesson
- electrophilic substitution
- A reaction in which an electrophile replaces an atom, usually hydrogen, on an aromatic ring, keeping the delocalised ring intact.
More in Aromatic Chemistry
- The Delocalised Model of Benzene
- Evidence for Delocalisation - Enthalpy of Hydrogenation
- Naming Aromatic Compounds
- Electrophilic Substitution
- Mechanism of Nitration
- Uses of Nitration
- Friedel-Crafts Acylation
- Mechanism of Friedel-Crafts Acylation
All 11 lessons in Aromatic Chemistry · All AQA A-level Chemistry topics