Malononitrile → (1-Ethoxyethylidene)malononitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

Triethyl orthoacetate (97 g, 0.6 mol), malononitrile (33 g, 0.5 mol) and glacial acetic acid (1.5 g) were placed in a 1 L flask equipped with a stirrer, thermometer and a Vigreux column (20×1 in.) on top of which a distillation condenser was placed. The reaction mixture was heated and ethyl alcohol began to distill when the temperature of the reaction mixture was about 85-90° C. After about 40 min., the temperature of the reaction mixture reached 140° C. Then the reaction was concentrated in a rotary evaporator to remove the low-boiling materials and the residue was crystallized from absolute alcohol to yield the pure product (62.2 g, 91%) as a light yellow solid mp 91.6° C.

Provenance & Evidence