Ester pyrolysis

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File:Ester pyrolysis.png
An example of ester pyrolosis. Ethyl acrylate decomposes into acrylic acid and ethene (ethylene) gas at 590°C.

Ester pyrolysis in organic chemistry is a vacuum pyrolysis reaction converting esters containing a β-hydrogen atom into the corresponding carboxylic acid and the alkene. The reaction is an Ei elimination.

Examples are the synthesis of acrylic acid from ethyl acrylate at 590°C [1], the synthesis of 1,4-pentadiene from 1,5-pentanediol diacetate at 575°C [2] or the construction of a cyclobutene framework at 700°C [3]

References

  1. Organic Syntheses, Coll. Vol. 3, p.30 (1955); Vol. 29, p.2 (1949). Link
  2. Organic Syntheses, Coll. Vol. 4, p.746 (1963); Vol. 38, p.78 (1958). Link
  3. Organic Syntheses, Coll. Vol. 5, p.235 (1973); Vol. 43, p.17 (1963). Link