Herein we reported on a one-pot nitro reduction/nucleophilic aromatic substitution on 1-(2-fluoro-5-nitrophenyl)ethan-1-one using a mixture of acetic acid and iron powder in ethanol. The resultant target compound, a nitrated N bis-acetophenone, has many reactive handles; as such, it is a novel intermediate that can be deployed for the syntheses of a vast array of compounds not reported before. This compound is fully characterized using 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, and HRMS.
Beteck et al. (Fri,) studied this question.