60368-03-8

Upstream product

• 95-93-2 1,2,4,5-tetramethylbenzene 
• 95-63-6 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene 
• 509-14-8 tetranitromethane 

Relevant academic research and scientific papers

Photochemical nitration by tetranitromethane. Part XXXIII. Adduct formation in the photochemical reactions of 1,2,4,5- and 1,2,3,5-tetramethylbenzene

The photolysis of the charge-transfer complex of tetranitromethane and 1,2,4,5-tetramethylbenzene in dichloromethane or acetonitrile gives the epimeric 1,3,4,6-tetramethyl-3-nitro-6-trinitromethylcyclohexa-1,4-dienes 8 and 9, in addition to products of nuclear nitration 12 and side-chain modification 10, 11, and 13-18. Similar reactions of 1,2,3,5-tetramethylbenzene gave trans-1,3,5,6-tetramethyl-6-nitro-3-trinitromethylcyclohexa-1,4-diene 30 and two isomeric 'double' adducts 31 and 32, in addition to products of nuclear nitration 27 and side-chain modification 26, 28 and 29. The eliminative rearrangements of adducts 8 and 30 to give re-aromatized products in acetonitrile or [2H3] acetonitrile and in [2H] chloroform are reported. The photolysis of the charge-transfer complexes of tetranitromethane with either 1,2,4,5-tetramethylbenzene or 1,2,3,5-tetramethylbenzene in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropan-2-ol (HFP) gives a marked increase in the yields of ring-nitration products 12 or 27, respectively, reactions presumed to proceed via a nitrosation-oxidation sequence. Reaction of 1,2,4,5-tetramethylbenzene with excess nitrogen dioxide in HFP also results in extensive ring nitration to give 12 and 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-1,4-dinitrobenzene (25); the latter compound is seen as arising via the 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-1,4-dinitrosobenzene (34). Similar reaction of 1,2,3,5-tetramethylbenzene gives ring-nitration product 27 as the major product. X-Ray crystal structures are reported for 2,4,6-trimethyl-1-(2′,2′,2′-trinitroethyl)benzene (26) and trans-1,3,5,6-tetramethyl-6-nitro-3-trinitromethyl-cyclohexa-1,4-diene (30). Acta Chemica Scandinavica 1996.

Thermal and Photochemical Nitration of Aromatic Hydrocarbons with Nitrogen Dioxide

Aromatic hydrocarbons (ArH) are readily nitrated by nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in dichloromethane at room temperature and below (in the dark).The red colors, transiently observed, arise from the metastable precursor complex NO3(1-), which is formed in the prior disproportionation of nitrogen dioxide induced by the aromatic donor (eq 7).The deliberate irradiation of the diagnostic (red) charge-transfer absorption band (hνCT) of NO3(1-) at low temperatures results directly in aromatic nitration, even at -78 deg C, where the thermal nitration is too slow to complete.The mechanism of the photochemical (charge-transfer) nitration is established by time-resolved laser spectroscopy to proceed via the aromatic cation radical (ArH.+) formed spontaneously upon the charge-transfer excitation of NO3(1-) in Scheme 1.The related thermal activation of NO3(1-) derives from the adiabatic electron transfer that produces the same radical pair as the reactive intermediate in Scheme 3.The close relationship between the thermal/photochemical nitrations with nitrogen dioxide and those conventionally carried out with nitric acid (in the presence of nitrous acid) is delineated by Scheme 4.

Oxidative Aromatic Nitration with Charge-Transfer Complexes of Arenes and Nitrosonium Salts

Brightly colored solutions are obtained immediately upon the exposure of various arenes (ArH) to nitrosonium (NO+) salts.The colors arise from the charge-transfer transitions of 1:1 complexes +> that are reversibly formed as persistent intermediates.However the yellow-red charge-transfer (CT) colors are readily bleached by dioxygen, and the corresponding nitroarenes (ArNO2) can be isolated in excellent yields from acetonitrile solutions.Such an oxidative aromatic nitration of aromatic donors proceeds via the initial autooxidation of the charge-transfer complex.The collapse of the resulting radical ion pair .+,NO2> to the ?-adduct, followed by the loss of proton, affords ArNO2.Direct evidence for electron transfer in the initial step when anthracene is treated with NO+PF6- stems for the isolation of (a) the anthracene ion radical salt .+PF6-> along with nitric oxide in dichloromethane solution and (b) the formation of 9-nitroanthracene (admixed with anthraquinone) in the more polar acetonitrile.The aromatic products (and isomer distribution) from oxidative aromatic nitration are highly reminiscent of those from electrophilic aromatic nitration.The possibility of common reactive intermediates in these two distinctive pathways for aromatic nitration is discussed.

Direct Observation of the Kinetic Acidities of Transient Aromatic Cation Radicals. The Mechanism of Electrophilic Side-Chain Nitration of the Methylbenzenes

The transient cation radicals ArCH3(.+) are spontaneously generated by the 532-nm excitation of the charge-transfer complexes with a 10-ns laser pulse.The decay kinetics of the spectral transients in the presence of added base establish the kinetic acidities (kH) for various methylarene cation radicals with different pyridines and trinitromethide.Such a proton transfer from ArCH3(.+) proceeds with a deuterium kinetic isotope effect of kH/kD ca. 3.Side-chain nitration of hexamethylbenzene (HMB) is shown to proceed in high yields via the intimate triad of reactive fragments II, , that is produced upon the charge-transfer excitation.The subsequent annihilation of the reactive triad II occurs via a rapid succession of bimolecular steps involving either (i) the initial ion-pair collapse of by proton transfer, as shown in Scheme VI, or (ii) the alternative sequence with the initial ion-radical collapse of by homolytic coupling, as shown in Scheme VII.The marked variations of kH/kD with solvent polarity and added innocuous salt (Bu4N(+)ClO4(-)), as reflected in ion-pair separation and the "special" salt effect, serve to effectively distinguish these pathways.The direct bearing of Schemes VI and VII on the mechanism of the thermal (adiabatic) nitration of methylarene side chains with nitric acid is delineated.