Which is the role of $\mathrm{HNO}_{3}$ in the nitrating mixture used for nitration of benzene?
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Ans:
In the nitrating mixture of conc. $\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{SO}_{4}+$ conc. $\mathrm{HNO}_{3}, \mathrm{HNO}_{3}$ act as base to generate the nitronium ion which is an initiation species for the nitration reaction.
$\mathrm{HNO}_{3}+\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{SO}_{4} \longrightarrow \underset{\text { Electrophile }}{\mathrm{NO}_{2}^{+}}+\underset{4}{\mathrm{HSO}_{4}^{-}}+\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O}$




