Acetic Acid → Ethyl 2-cyano-3-phenyl-2-butenoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

A stirred mixture of acetophenone (VIII) (180 g, 1.5 mol), ethyl cyanoacetate (170 g, 1.3 mol), ammonium acetate (23.1 g), acetic acid (72 g) and toluene (300 ml) was heated under reflux for 18 hours while water was removed from the reaction by azeotropic distillation. The mixture was allowed to cool to ambient temperature, toluene (100 ml) was added, then the mixture was washed with water (3×100 ml). The combined aqueous washings were shaken with toluene (50 ml), then the combined toluene solutions were dried over magnesium sulphate, filtered and the solvent was removed in vacuo. The residual oil was distilled under reduced pressure to give 2-cyano-3-phenyl-but-2-enoic acid ethyl ester as an oil (309 g) which was used without further purification.

Provenance & Evidence