Sodium Hydroxide → 4-Methyl-3-oxopentanoic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

Sodium hydroxide (0.4 g) was dissolved in water (10 ml) and methyl isobutyrylacetate (manufactured by Fluka Corp., 1.44 g) was added thereto and stirred for 6 hours at room temperature. The reaction product was washed with ether and ether extraction was performed by adding a 10%-dilute sulfuric acid (4.9 g). An excess of anhydrous sodium sulfate was added to the ether extract, drying was performed thereon, and the anhydrous sodium sulfate was removed by filtering. In addition, the ether was removed using a rotary evaporator and an isobutyrylacetic acid was obtained (yield: 1 g).

Provenance & Evidence