Uses of Nitration

Nitration is an important step in making many useful compounds. AQA highlights two uses: the manufacture of explosives and the formation of amines.Explosives. Nitrating methylbenzene three times gives 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, better known as TNT. The three nitro groups contain oxygen and nitrogen, so when TNT is detonated it decomposes very rapidly into large volumes of hot gases, which produce the blast. TNT is stable enough to be handled and stored safely until it is set off by a detonator, which is why it has been widely used in mining, quarrying and demolition.Aromatic amines. The nitro group can be reduced to an amine group, NH₂. Nitrobenzene is reduced to phenylamine using tin and concentrated hydrochloric acid (the details are in the Amines topic):C₆H₅NO₂ + 6[H] → C₆H₅NH₂ + 2H₂OEach nitro group needs six [H]: two go into the NH₂ group and four combine with the two oxygen atoms to form two water molecules.Aromatic amines such as phenylamine are the starting materials for many dyes and pharmaceuticals. Nitration is therefore the usual way to introduce nitrogen onto a benzene ring: first nitrate, then reduce.