Nitration is one of the most important electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions in organic chemistry. The nitrated aromatic compounds are widely utilized as useful materials such as solvents,dyes, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, perfumes, plastics and explosives [1]. Nitration of phenolic compounds using nitrate salts such as Bi(NO3)3. 5H2O, VO(NO3)3, Fe(NO3)3.9H2O, (Me4N)NO3, Mg(NO3)2.6H2O and NaNO3 as the nitrating reagents has been reported [2,3]. Moreover, zeolites, a variety of other solid acids such as sulfuric acid on silica, clay-supported metal nitrates, metal exchanged clays and metal-modified montmorillonite have also been studied for nitration of aromatic compounds [4]. However, the majority of reported methods suffer from disadvantages such as low regioselectivity, overnitration, strongly acidic media, tedious workup, and safety problems. In this study, a new and efficient catalyst was introduced for the nitration of aromatic compounds like phenols into their corresponding nitrated compounds using NaNO2 and wet SiO2 at room temperature with appropriate yields.

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