1,3-Bis(2-chloro-α,α,α-trifluoro-p-tolyloxy)benzene (12 g. 0.0255 mole) is added to a mixture of concentrated nitric acid (12 g.) and sulfuric acid (15 g.) at 5° C. The temperature is then allowed to rise to 25°-30° C. with manual stirring and mild ice bath cooling and after 10-20 minutes, the oil solidifies. The mixture is taken up in water/benzene (400 ml)/hexane (400 ml) and the organic phase is washed with water, dried, filtered through activated silica gel (~20 g.), and the solvents removed. The residue is recrystallized from isopropanol to give 1,3-bis(2-chloro-α,α,α-trifluoro-p-tolyloxy)-4-nitrobenzene, (7.4 g. 56%) m.p. 110°-111.5° C.
