Nitration is an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction.

• Nitrating Mixture: Concentrated $HN{O}_3$ and concentrated $H_{2}S{O}_4$ at $50-60^{\circ }C$.
• The Electrophile: The nitronium ion ($N{O}_2^{+}$) is generated by the reaction: $HN{O}_3+2H_{2}S{O}_4\to N{O}_2^{+}+2HS{O}_4^{-}+H_3{O}^{+}$
• The nitronium ion attacks the benzene ring to form the intermediate sigma-complex, ultimately resulting in Nitrobenzene ($C_6{H}_{5}N{O}_2$).