Water → Fenvalerate

Participants

Reaction Steps

A 50 ml round-bottomed flask equipped with a magnetic stirrer was charged with 10 mmol of 3-phenoxybenzaldehyde, 10.0 or 10.5 mmol of 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-methylbutanoyl chloride, 12 mmol of sodium cyanide, 0.02 ml of water and 20 ml of an aprotic solvent. The molar ratio of water to sodium cyanide was 0.105, solid NaCN being present. Thirteen experiments were conducted in this manner, see Table IV, stating which solvents were used. Experiments 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9 were conducted with 10.0 and the other experiments with 10.5 mmol of 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-methylbutanoyl chloride. The petroleum ether used in experiment 3 consisted of 97% by weight of alkanes and 3% by weight of benzene and had a boiling range at atmospheric pressure between 62° and 82° C. The ester remained in solution during the reaction in experiments 3 and 4. The reaction mixture obtained in experiment 4 was filtered and the cyclohexane was flashed from the filtrate to give the ester wanted as a colorless oil in quantitative yield. Table IV also presents the yields of the desired ester. Comparison of the yields shows that alkanes and cycloalkanes are the best solvents.

Provenance & Evidence