Potassium Hydroxide → 3-Ethoxy-2,2-dimethyl-3-oxopropanoic acid

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Reaction Steps

25 g 2,2-Dimethyl-malonic acid diethyl ester, 7.8 g potassium hydroxide and 500 ml ethanol were mixed in a round-bottomed flask and refluxed for 3 hours. Then again 2.2 g potassium hydroxide were added and the mixture was refluxed overnight. The solvent was removed on a rotovap, 250 ml H2O were added and the mixture was washed with ether. The aqueous phase was acidified with HCl to pH 3-4 followed by two extractions with dichloromethane. The organic solvent was dried and evaporated and the resulting product was characterized by 1H-NMR.

Provenance & Evidence