Studies on the oxidation of hexamethylbenzene 1: Oxidation of hexamethylbenzene with nitric acid

The oxidative reaction of hexamethylbenzene (HMB) with nitric acid was studied, and the hitherto unknown polymethylbenzenepolycarboxylic acids were isolated: tetramethylphthalic anhydride, tetramethylisophthalic acid, 1,3,5-, 1,2,4- and 1,2,3-trimethylbenzenetricarboxylic acids. When HMB was warmed with 50% nitric acid at about 80 C, tetramethylphthalic anhydride and tetramethylisophthalic acid were initially produced. The continued reaction led to the production of trimethylbenzenetricarboxylic acids, but only slight amounts of dimethylbenzenetetracarboxylic acids were detected in the reaction mixture. Whereas tetramethylphthalic anydride and tetramethylisophthalic acid were obtained, pentamethylbenzoic acid, a possible precursor of them, was scarcely produced. On the other hand, a yellow material extracted with ether from the initial reaction mixture contained bis-(nitromethyl)prehnitene (CH3)4C6(CH2NO2)2, which was easily converted into the phthalic anhydride.