Nitric Acid → 4-Nitrotoluene

Participants

Reaction Steps

U.S. Pat. No. 2,362,743 describes the preparation of dinitrotoluene by the nitration of toluene with nitric acid of about a 70% concentration to produce mononitrotoluene, followed by further nitration with nitric acid of about 98% concentration to produce a crude dinitrotoluene. This patent states that the use of the concentrated nitric acid is an improvement over the use of sulfuric acid alone and mixtures of sulfuric and nitric acids as nitrating agents. The crude dinitrotoluene produced by the process of the patent is stated to be subjected to several steps of washing, neutralizing, alcohol treatment, and centrifuging to obtain the 2,4-dinitrotoluene.

Provenance & Evidence