Novel Nitration Methods of Toluene for the Production of TNT Respecting to Environmental Aspects

In order to use TNT in military industries, its impurities have to be removed. The further nitration ofm-nitrotoluene (by-product of the first step nitration), cause to the formation of asymmetric products which during the purification step,thesetri-nitrated and asymmetric products lead to the formation of red water as a main environmental pollutant. This pollutant remains in the environment for a long time and cause several environmental pollution. Hence, avoiding from m-nitrotoluene production in the first step of nitration is a key point in the prevention of red water formation. So, several modified nitration methods are being investigated as green methods. In this paper, we review the new toluene nitration methods by changing the nitraton agents, catalysts, intermediate reactions, procedure kinetics, mechanism, and process engineering.