Ethylenediamine selectively reduces aromatic nitro compounds RC6H4NO2 (R= H, m-CH3, p-CH3, and m-Ph) at 150" C to symmetric azo compounds RC6H4N= NCa4R in good yield but does not reduce their ortho-substituted analogues. The diamine does not react with 0-or p-nitroanilines but reduces the meta isomer to 1, 3-diaminobenzene and 3, 3'- diaminoazobenzene. Its reaction with 0-and p-halonitrobenzenes gives substitution ...
[Costa, Marcio V.; Viana, Gil M.; De Souza, Thais M.; Malta, Luiz Fernando B.; Aguiar, Lucia C.S. Tetrahedron Letters, 2013 , vol. 54, # 19 p. 2332 - 2335]