nitro group

noun

Chemistry.

1. the univalent group –NO 2 .

Word History and Origins

Origin of nitro group¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Production of anilines—key intermediates for the fine chemical, agrochemical, and pharmaceutical industries—relies on precious metal catalysts that selectively hydrogenate aryl nitro groups in the presence of other easily reducible functionalities.

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The nitro group behaves very similarly to the hydroxyl group.

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Somewhat later, they found that it could be prepared from diazobenzene imide, provided a nitro group were present in the ortho or para position to the diazo group.

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When treated with nitric acid in the usual way it takes up like the others three nitro groups and so becomes tri-nitro-toluol.

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The presence of nitro groups in a substance increases the difficulty of further nitration, and in any case not more than three nitro groups can be introduced into an aromatic compound, or the phenols.

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