Nitration of deactivated aromatic compounds via mechanochemical reaction

• Solvent-free mechanochemical nitration of highly deactivated arenes. • Fe(NO3) 3 ·9H 2 O as the alterative reagent instead of nitric acid. • Facile method with high yield. A variety of deactivated arenes were nitrated to their corresponding nitro derivatives in excellent yields under high-speed ball milling condition using Fe(NO 3 ) 3 ·9H 2 O/P 2 O 5 as nitrating reagent. A radical involved mechanism was proposed for this facial, eco-friendly, safe, and effective nitration reaction.