Vinyl formate is an

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon- hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. Th ...

with the formula . It is the

ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides ...

formally derived from

formic acid Formic acid (), systematically named methanoic acid, is the simplest carboxylic acid, and has the chemical formula HCOOH and structure . It is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in some ants. Est ...

and

vinyl alcohol Vinyl alcohol, also called ethenol (IUPAC name; not ethanol), is the simplest enol. With the formula , it is a labile compound that converts to acetaldehyde. It is not a precursor to polyvinyl alcohol. Synthesis Vinyl alcohol can be formed by t ...

. Although rare commercially, it occurs naturally. It can be prepared by

transvinylation in organic chemistry, vinylation is the process of attaching a vinyl group () to a substrate. Many organic compounds contain vinyl groups, so the process has attracted significant interest, especially since the reaction scope includes substituted v ...

, say by treating vinyl versatate with formic acid in the presence of a mercury(II) catalyst..{{cite journal , doi=10.1016/S0040-4020(01)97407-1, title=A novel synthesis of vinyl esters from vinylversatate-10 , year=1974 , last1=Mondal , first1=M.A.S. , last2=Van Der Meer , first2=R. , last3=German , first3=A.L. , last4=Heikens , first4=D. , journal=Tetrahedron , volume=30 , issue=23–24 , pages=4205–4207

References

Monomers Vinyl esters Formates