Nef reaction

In organic chemistry, the Nef reaction is an organic reaction describing the acid hydrolysis of a salt of a primary or secondary nitroalkane (R−NO₂) to an aldehyde (R−CH=O) or a ketone (R₂C=O) and nitrous oxide (N₂O). The reaction has been the subject of several literature reviews.

The reaction was reported in 1894 by the chemist John Ulric Nef, who treated the sodium salt of nitroethane with sulfuric acid resulting in an 85–89% yield of nitrous oxide and at least 70% yield of acetaldehyde. However, the reaction was pioneered a year earlier in 1893 by Konovalov, who converted the potassium salt of 1-phenylnitroethane with sulfuric acid to acetophenone.