Sulfuric Acid → Diethyl (2-hydroxyethyl)phosphonate

Participants

Reaction Steps

100 g of 2-acetoxyethane phosphonic acid diethyl ester are heated to 80°C jointly with 200 ml of ethanol. To this solution are added dropwise within 5 hours 20 ml of ethanol containing 1 wt.% of H2SO4 while simultaneously removing by continuous distillation a mixture of ethylacetate and ethanol. The residue is submitted to distillation under reduced pressure. 64 g of 2-hydroxyethane-phosphonic acid diethyl ester are obtained, corresponding to a yield of 80% of the theoretical.

Provenance & Evidence