Nitrogen → t-Butyl-2-methacryloyloxyacetate

Methacrylic acid (8.06 g, 0.10 mole), t-butyl bromoacetate (19.50 g, 0.10 mole) and 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undoc-7-ene, DBU, (15.20 g, 0.10 mole) and 150 ml toluene were combined in a 500 ml 3-neck flask equipped with condenser, nitrogen inlet, thermometer and magnetic stirrer bar. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for one hour. The reaction was continued at 90° C. overnight under a blanket of N2 flow. The mixture was cooled to room temperature and the salt was removed by filtration. The toluene solution was washed with 75 ml saturated NaCl solution and 2×75 ml Dl-water respectively before dried on MgSO4 overnight. The solid was filtered out and the toluene was removed at rotavap. An oily residue was distilled to a final clear liquid at reduced pressure.