Electrophilic and free radical nitration of benzene and toluene with various nitrating agents

Electrophilic nitration of toluene and benzene was studied under various conditions with several nitrating systems. It was found that high orthopara regioselectivity is prevalent in all reactions and is independent of the reactivity of the nitrating agent. The methyl group of toluene is predominantly ortho-para directing under all reaction conditions. Steric factors are considered to be important but not the sole reason for the variation in the ortho/para ratio. The results reinforce our earlier views that, in electrophilic aromatic nitrations with reactive nitrating agents, substrate and positional selectivities are determined in two separate steps. The first step involves a π-aromatic-NO ₂ ⁺ ion complex or encounter pair, whereas the subsequent step is of arenium ion nature (separate for the ortho, meta , and para positions). The former determines substrate selectivity, whereas the latter determines regioselectivity. Thermal free radical nitration of benzene and toluene with tetranitromethane in sharp contrast gave nearly statistical product distributions.