Deduce the main organic product for the reaction of benzene with nitric acid in the prescence of sulfuric acid, and provide a complete mechanism for this reaction. (5 marks)
The answer to this question mostly involves drawing of chemical structures and mechanistic arrows.The organic product is nitrobenzene, which students would draw out as part of the mechanism, but must also name it (1 mark). This reaction is an example of an aromatic substitution reaction or SEAr. Full chemical equations for the generation of the nitronium ion are also required:H2SO4 + HNO3 --> H2NO3+ + HSO4- (1 mark)H2NO3+ --> H2O + NO2+ (1 mark)
curly arrow mechanism(2 marks) (I will draw this out during the session)
