Hydrogen Cyanide → Methyl Methacrylate

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A 500 milliliter (hereinafter abbreviated to "mL") flask equipped with a stirrer, a thermometer and two dropping funnels was charged with 203 g of N-methylpyrrolidone and 1.35 g of potassium cyanide, and to the content in the flask were added dropwise 40 g of prussic acid and 163 g of methyl methacrylate over a period of 4 hours, while the content was maintained at a temperature of 120° C. After the completion of the dropwise addition, the content was maintained at 120° C. for 2 hours to complete the reaction. As a result, methyl cyanoisobutyrate was formed at a conversion of methyl methacrylate (MMA) of 88.3% and at a selectivity of 98.1% based on the reacted MMA.

Provenance & Evidence