Question

Why is nitrobenzene commonly used as a solvent in Friedel-Crafts acylation/alkylation?

Answer 1

Why is nitrobenzene used as a solvent in Friedel-Crafts acylation/alkylation?

Explanation:

Nitrobenzene contains an electron-withdrawing nitro group directly bound to the phenyl ring. As `-^+N(=O)O^-`, i.e. a quaternized nitrogen, it serves to deactivate the aromatic ring towards electrophilic aromatic substitution. And of course, a lack of reactivity is required of a solvent in an organic reaction. It is also relatively high boiling, (`>210` `""^@C`), so this means you can heat the reaction up high to get it going.