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Does Nitric Acid Affect The Synthesis Of Nitroacetanilide

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In this experiment, nitric acid and sulfuric acid were mixed to form nitronium ions, hydronium ions, and hydrogen sulfate ions. The amide on the acetanilide is an electron donating group, an activator, which means that when an activated electrophile is added to the acetanilide, it will add in the ortho, para positions. In this case, the activated electrophile is the nitronium ions, which react with the acetanilide and form an arenium ion. Then, the hydrogen sulfate ions pull off the hydrogen that is attached to the same carbon as the nitronium ion, allowing the lone pair that is now on the carbon the hydrogen left from to form a double bond with the electron deficient (positively charged) carbon next to it. The products formed are the ortho and para-substitutions of nitroacetanilide. …show more content…

The crude solid was dissolved in hot ethanol and then, was allowed to cool. As the solution cooled the solubility of the compounds in the solution drops, which allowed the nitroacetanilide to recrystallize from the solution. The size of the crystals depends on the rate of cooling; a slower cooling rate leads to the formation of larger crystals. In order to collect the crude solid and the recrystallized solid, vacuum filtration was used. Vacuum filtration uses reduced pressure to force the solution and air through the filter paper, allowing for the solid to

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