Rapid Microwave-Assisted Copper-Catalyzed Nitration of Aromatic Halides with Nitrite Salts

Nitration of aromatic compounds is one of the important industrial processes as underlying intermediates in the manufacture of a wide range of chemicals such as dyes, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and explosives.1 General methods for the nitration of aromatic compounds utilize strongly acidic conditions employing nitric acid or a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids, sometimes leading to problems with poor regioselectivity, overnitration, oxidized bypro-ducts and excess acid waste in many cases of functionalized aromatic compounds.2 Several other nitrating agents or methods avoiding harsh reaction conditions have been explored using metal nitrates,3 nitrite salts,4 and ionic liquid-mediated or microwave-assisted nitrations.5 Recently, copper or palladium compounds have been successfully used as efficient catalysts for the arylation of amines with ary