Ethyl n-valerate

Fit the central neck of a 1-litre three-necked flask with an efficient double surface condenser and close the two side necks with corks (1). Place 52 g. (59-5 ml.) of ethyl n-valerate (Section 111,104) and 800 ml. of super-diy ethyl alcohol (Section 11,47, 5) (2) in the flask. Add 95 g. of clean sodium in small pieces through one of the apertures at such... 

Place 200 g, (250 ml.) of rectified spirit in a 1-litre round-bottomed flask fitted with a reflux condenser. Cool in ice and run in, slowly and with frequent shaking, 200 g. (109 ml.) of concentrated sulphuric acid. Add 83 g. (104 ml.) of -butyl cyanide (Section 111,113) to the mixture and reflux the whole for 10 hours. Allow to cool, pour the reaction mixture into ice water, separate the upper layer of ester and alcohol, and dry over anhydrous magnesium or calcium sulphate. Distil through a fractionating column and collect the ethyl n-valerate at 143-146°. A further amovmt of the pure ester may be obtained by redrying the fraction of low boiling point and redistilling. The yield is 110 g. 

CH3CH2CH2CH2COOC2H5 — CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2OH + C2H5OH Ethyl n-valerate n-Aniyl alcohol... 

T. Urbanski and Bicrnacki (208) nitrated ethyl n-valerate with nitric acid in glacial acetic acid-acetic anhydride at 23 2 C and found that a ntixture of 2- 3- and 4-nitrovalerates was formed in the ratio 0.5 0.7 l. At 63 2 C a certain amount of l-nitrobutane was formed due to the decarboxylation of the 2-nitrovalerate. 

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