Question

Phenol is nitrated with dilute nitric acid alone why

Answer 1

Hno3 is a withdrawing group,used in nucleophile reactions,thus a good nitrating agent

Answer 2

Only one hydrogen atom gets replaced per molecule of phenol. The products formed are o-nitrophenol and p-nitrophenol. The reaction of phenol with concentrated nitric acid in the presence of sulphuric acid, however, is a tri-nitration reaction.the product is 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (commonly called picric acid).