Selective hydrogenation of nitrobenzene in aprotic media

The kinetics of hydrogenation of nitrobenzene in aprotic media was studied, and a scheme of the mechanism and a kinetic equation, corresponding to it, for the initial reaction rate are proposed. High selectivity with respect to N-phenylhydroxylamine is apparently due to the aprotic nature and donor properties of the solvent and also to the functioning of the catalyst as a unique hydrogen electrode.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 45–48, January, 1991.The author thanks V. V. Strelets for useful discussion.