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Nitro compounds are organic compounds that contain one or more nitro functional groups (-2). They are often highly explosive; various impurities or improper handling can easily trigger a violent exothermic decomposition. Aromatic nitro compounds are typically synthesized by the action of a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids on a suitable organic molecule. Some examples of such compounds are trinitrophenol (picric acid), trinitrotoluene (TNT), and trinitroresorcinol (styphnic acid).
Preparation In organic synthesis various methods exists to prepare nitro compounds. Aliphatic nitro compounds In one study, a reaction mechanism is proposed in which in the first slow step a proton is abstracted from nitroalkane 1 to a carbanion 2 followed by isomerization to a sodium nitronate 3 and finally nucleophilic displacement of chlorine based on an experimentally observed kinetic isotope effect of 3.3 . When the same reactant is reacted with potassium hydroxide the reaction product is the 1,2-dinitro dimer | ||||||||
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