Ethyl Acetate → Ethyl 4,4,5,5,5-Pentafluoro-3-oxovalerate

Ethyl acetate (20.26 g, 0.23 mole) and sodium metal (2.3 g, 0.10 g-atom) was added to ethyl pentafluoropropionate (20.26 g, 0.23 mole) and the mixture was refluxed with stirring until sodium metal was dissolved. After sodium metal was dissolved, dry diethyl ether (100 ml) was added and the solution was further reacted under reflux overnight. After completion of the reaction, the solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure and the resulting residue was made acidic with 50 ml of 15% sulfuric acid, while it was cool. The solution was extracted with diethyl ether and the ether layer was dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate. Diethyl ether was then distilled off by distilling at atmospheric pressure using a fractionating column packed with Raschig ring and the resulting residue was further distilled under reduced pressure to give 9.90 g (42.3%) of the title compound as a colorless liquid, b.p. 77°-78° C./80 mmHg. The structure of this compound was confirmed by IR and NMR.