Carbon Tetrachloride → N-(1-chloroethyl)-succinimide

N-vinylsuccinimide, 50.0 g (0.40 mole) is dissolved in 100 ml carbon tetrachloride, 5.20 g (0.020 mole) of stannic chloride is added and the mixture is stirred while saturating with hydrogen chloride gas for 6 hours at 20°-30° C. After 24 hours, the mixture is resaturated with hydrogen chloride gas for 1.5 hours. At the end of 48 hours, the solution is decanted and the gummy residue is washed with ten 100 ml portions of carbon tetrachloride. The combined extracts are slurried with 10 g of diatomaceous earth, filtered and the filtrate is concentrated under reduced pressure to approximately 400 ml. The N-(1-chloroethyl)-succinimide is filtered and dried at 20°-30° C. under reduced pressure to yield 38.4 g (59%) of white solid melting at 83.5°-84.5° C.

1. concentrationwhile saturating with hydrogen chloride gas for 6 hours at 20°-30° C