Nitration is carried out with a mixture of Conc. NO3 + Conc. H2 SO4 (nitrating mix). In the presence of these acids, most of aniline gets protonated to form anilinium ion. Therefore, in the presence of acids, the reaction mixture consists of aniline and anilinium ion. Now – NH2 gp in aniline is O, p-directing and activating while –N+H3 gp in anilinium ion is m-directing and deactivating hence a mixture of all three–ortho, para and meta derivatives is formed.