Béchamp reduction

Bechamp reduction
Named after Antoine Béchamp
Reaction type Organic redox reaction
Identifiers
RSC ontology ID RXNO:0000498

The Béchamp reduction (or Béchamp process) is a chemical reaction that converts aromatic nitro compounds to their corresponding anilines using iron as the reductant:

4 C6H5NO2 + 9 Fe + 4 H2O → 4 C6H5NH2 + 3 Fe3O4

This reaction was once a major route to aniline, but catalytic hydrogenation is the preferred method.