Diethyl Malonate → Diethyl 2-(5-nitropyridin-2-yl)malonate

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Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

Diethyl malonate (74 g) was added to a stirred suspension of sodium hydride (60% dispersion in oil; 18 g) in dry tetrahydrofuran under an inert atmosphere. The resulting suspension was stirred at reflux for one hour. The mixture was cooled to 60° C. and a solution of 2-chloro-5-nitropyridine (50 g) in dry tetrahydrofuran was added. The resulting red solution was stirred at reflux for 3 hours then allowed to stand at room temperature overnight. The volume of solvent was reduced by evaporation, water was added to the residue and the mixture was acidified to pH 1 with concentrated hydrochloric acid. The mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate, washed with water, dried (anhydrous magnesium sulphate), filtered and evaporated. The crude product was triturated in a mixture of cyclohexane and diethyl ether to yield diethyl 2-(5-nitropyridin-2-yl)malonate (56.5 g) as a yellow solid, m.p. 91.5°-93.5° C.

Provenance & Evidence