Data and Results:

 The total mass of the product (p-nitroanilide) was 6.0g

 Mass of Acetanilide used was 6.8g
 The molar mass of the product =180g/mol
 Theoretical yield = 0.0503 mol of maleic anhydride
 Actual yield = 0.0333 mol of p-nitroanilide
 Percent yield = 66.20%

Percent yield= (0.0333/0.0503)*100=66.20%

Discussion:

 The purpose of this experiment is to prepare para-nitroaniline from nitrobenzene. The steps
were done by the acetylation of aniline to form acetanilide, and then the nitration of aceta- nilide
to form para-nitroacetanilide. P-nitroaniline is a nitration of acetalilide using a mixyure of
concentrated sulfuric acid and nitric acid to obtain nitroacetanilide. In this electrophilic aromatic
substitution reaction, the acetamido group directs the nitronium ion to the ortho para positions of
the aromatic ring. Separation of the ortho and para-nitroacetanilides, with the para compound
being the major product. The yellow ortho isomer remains in the filtrate. The mass of maleic
anhydride used was 6.8g giving a total of 0.0503 moles, this being the theoretical yield. The
mass of the product was a total of 6.0g giving a total of 0.0333 moles, this being the actual. The
percent yield was found by dividing the actual by the theoretical and multiplying by 100, this
gave a % yield of 66.20%. The percent yield was very low. When having a low percent yield this
signifies that a lot of the product may have been lost during the process.