Diethyl Malonate → 1,3-Diethyl 2-(1-methylbutyl)propanedioate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Sodium metal (5.24 g, 0.23 g atm) was reacted with 25 mL of absolute ethanol. To this solution was added dropwise, with stirring, diethyl malonate (36.0 mL, 0.24 mol). The solution was heated to reflux and 2-bromopentane (29.0 mL, 0.23 mol) was added dropwise. After refluxing overnight, the reaction was cooled and the ethanol removed on a rotovap. The product was washed with water, dried with MgSO4 and fractionally distilled to give 35.7 g of the desired product.

Provenance & Evidence