Nitrolic acids are organic compounds with the functional group RC(NO2)=NOH. They are prepared by the reaction of nitroalkanes with base and nitrite sources:[1]
The conversion was first demonstrated by Victor Meyer using nitroethane.[2] The reaction proceeds via the intermediacy of the nitronate anion.
Most nitrolic acids are laboratory curiosities. One exception is the compound HO2C(CH2)4C(NO2)=NOH, which is produced by the oxidation of cyclohexanone with nitric acid.[3] This species decomposes to adipic acid and nitrous oxide:
This conversion is thought to be the largest anthropogenic route to N2O, which, on a molecule-to-molecule basis, has 298 times the atmospheric heat-trapping ability of carbon dioxide.[4] Adipic acid is a precursor to many nylon polymers. In the end, nitrous oxide is produced in about one to one mole ratio to the adipic acid.[5]