VITEEE 2016 Paper

Nitric acid not only nitrates but also oxidizes the highly reactive ring as well, with loss of much material as dark-coloured tar. Furthermore, in the strongly acidic nitration medium, the amine is converted into anilinium ion $( N H _{3}^{+})$; substitution is thus controlled not by the $- N H _{2}$ group but by the $- N H _{3}^{+}$ group which, because of its positive charge, directs the entering group to the meta-position instead of ortho and para.