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Potassium Ethoxide
Potassium ethoxide, also known as potassium ethanolate, is an off-white or yellow powder with the chemical formula of C2H5KO. Potassium ethoxide contains an ethoxide ion, the conjugate base of ethanol, which makes this compounds strongly basic. It hydrolyzes to yield ethanol and potassium hydroxide. Uses Potassium ethoxide is used as a strong base, similar to sodium methoxide, sodium and potassium methoxides, and potassium tert-butoxide. Catalytic amounts of potassium ethoxide in ethanol can be used to perform transesterification reactions that yield ethyl esters. Sodium or potassium ethoxide is also a suitable base for the malonic ester synthesis where diethyl malonate Diethyl malonate, also known as DEM, is the diethyl ester of malonic acid. It occurs naturally in grapes and strawberries as a colourless liquid with an apple-like odour, and is used in perfumes. It is also used to synthesize other compounds su ... is used, since any transesterification reaction does not resul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sodium Methoxide
Sodium methoxide is the simplest sodium alkoxide. With the formula , it is a white solid, which is formed by the deprotonation of methanol. Itis a widely used reagent in industry and the laboratory. It is also a dangerously caustic base. Preparation and structure Sodium methoxide is prepared by treating methanol with sodium: : The reaction is so exothermic that ignition is possible. The resulting solution, which is colorless, is often used as a source of sodium methoxide, but the pure material can be isolated by evaporation followed by heating to remove residual methanol. As a solid, sodium methoxide is polymeric, with sheet-like arrays of centers, each bonded to four oxygen centers. The structure, and hence the basicity, of sodium methoxide in solution depends on the solvent. It is a significantly stronger base in DMSO where it is more fully ionized and free of hydrogen bonding. Applications Organic synthesis Sodium methoxide is a routinely used base in organic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potassium Methoxide
Potassium methoxide is the alkoxide of methanol with the counterion potassium and is used as a strong base and as a catalyst for transesterification, in particular for the production of biodiesel. Preparation The preparation of potassium methoxide can be achieved on the laboratory scale by the (strongly exothermic) reaction of metallic potassium and methanol upon the release of equimolar amounts of hydrogen. The reaction of metal hydrides (potassium hydride) with methanol forming potassium methoxide is also possible but less important. The exothermic reaction of potassium hydroxide with methanol leads in an equilibrium reaction to potassium methanolate and water (avoiding formation of highly inflammable hydrogen gas). In a continuous process the formed water must be removed permanently. The complete removal of the water is critical for the reaction conversion, due to the pronounced hygroscopy of potassium hydroxide, which contains about 10% of water. The significantly hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potassium Tert-butoxide
Potassium ''tert''-butoxide is the chemical compound with the formula K+(CH3)3CO−. This colourless solid is a strong base (pKa of conjugate acid around 17), which is useful in organic synthesis. It exists as a tetrameric cubane-type cluster. It is often seen written in chemical literature as potassium ''t''-butoxide. The compound is often depicted as a salt, and it often behaves as such, but it is not ionized in solution. Preparation Potassium ''t''-butoxide is commercially available as a solution and as a solid, but it is often generated ''in situ'' for laboratory use because samples are so sensitive and older samples are often of poor quality. It is prepared by the reaction of dry ''tert''-butyl alcohol with potassium metal. The solid is obtained by evaporating these solutions followed by heating the solid. The solid can be purified by sublimation at 220 °C and 1 mmHg. Sublimation can also take place at 140 °C and 0.01 hPa. It is advisable to cover the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transesterification
In organic chemistry, transesterification is the process of exchanging the organic group R″ of an ester with the organic group R' of an alcohol. These reactions are often catalyzed by the addition of an acid or base catalyst. The reaction can also be accomplished with the help of other enzymes, particularly lipases (one example is the lipase E.C.3.1.1.3). Strong acids catalyse the reaction by donating a proton to the carbonyl group, thus making it a more potent electrophile, whereas bases catalyse the reaction by removing a proton from the alcohol, thus making it more nucleophilic. If the alcohol produced by the reaction can be separated from the reactants by distillation this will drive the equilibrium toward the products, this means that esters with larger alkoxy groups can be made from methyl or ethyl esters in high purity by heating the mixture of ester, acid/base, and large alcohol. Mechanism In the transesterification mechanism, the carbonyl carbon of the startin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malonic Ester Synthesis
The malonic ester synthesis is a chemical reaction where diethyl malonate or another ester of malonic acid is alkylated at the carbon alpha (directly adjacent) to both carbonyl groups, and then converted to a substituted acetic acid. The major drawback of malonic ester synthesis is that the alkylation stage can also produce dialkylated structures. This makes separation of products difficult and yields lower. : Mechanism The carbons alpha to carbonyl groups can be deprotonated by a strong base. The carbanion formed can undergo nucleophilic substitution on the alkyl halide, to give the alkylated compound. On heating, the di-ester undergoes thermal decarboxylation, yielding an acetic acid substituted by the appropriate R group. Thus, the malonic ester can be thought of being equivalent to the −CH2COOH synthon. The esters chosen are usually the same as the base used, i.e. ethyl esters with sodium ethoxide. This is to prevent scrambling by transesterification. Variations Di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diethyl Malonate
Diethyl malonate, also known as DEM, is the diethyl ester of malonic acid. It occurs naturally in grapes and strawberries as a colourless liquid with an apple-like odour, and is used in perfumes. It is also used to synthesize other compounds such as barbiturates, artificial flavourings, vitamin B1, and vitamin B6. Structure and properties Malonic acid is a rather simple dicarboxylic acid, with two the carboxyl groups close together. In forming diethyl malonate from malonic acid, the hydroxyl group (−OH) on both of the carboxyl groups is replaced by an ethoxy group (−OEt; −OCH2CH3). The methylene group (−CH2−) in the middle of the malonic part of the diethyl malonate molecule is neighboured by two carbonyl groups (−C(=O)−). The hydrogen atoms on the carbon adjacent to the carbonyl group in a molecule is significantly more acidic than hydrogen atoms on a carbon adjacent to alkyl groups (up to 30 orders of magnitude). (This is known as the α position with res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
