Photochemical Nitration of Benzoic Acid Derivatives by Irradiation to Nitrate Ions

Article abstract of DOI:10.1246/bcsj.65.3183

Photochemical nitration of p-hydroxybenzoate, HBA, initiated by UV irradiation to sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite was observed in aqueous solutions. 4-Hydroxy-3-nitrobenzoate was formed, with maximum quantum yields of 0.007 and 0.09 for NaNO3 and NaNO2, respectively.From the dependence of the yields on the pH and concentrations of oxygen and OH-scavengers, we propose a mechanism involving the addition of OH(radical) to the aromatic ring of HBA and electron abstraction from NO2 by the OH(radical) adduct for the photonitration.