Practical neutral aromatic nitration with nitrogen dioxide in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts under moderate oxygen pressure

A practical neutral aromatic nitration process using nitrogen dioxide in the presence of FeCl₃ · 6H₂O under 40–100 psig of oxygen was developed, and nitration of several aromatic compounds, including the deactivated nitrobenzene, was performed in a successful manner. The correlation of reaction rate with equivalents nitrogen dioxide, oxygen pressure, amount of catalyst and temperature was investigated through the nitration of benzene. Following the optimization of reaction conditions, the nitration of benzene was scaled up to 476 mol. Furthermore, inorganic solid catalysts with pore size over 5 Å and surface area over 100 m²/g were applied to newly developed neutral nitration.