Methyl crotonate, hydroformylation

Hydroformylation of a,/ -Unsaturated Esters. Methyl Crotonate. Hydroformylation leads to the following four products ... 

The reactions of ethyl acrylate and ethyl crotonate were studied (117) in the presence of ethyl orthoformate using 1 1 CO/H2 and 250 and 200 atm pressure. For ethyl acrylate, the distribution of products corresponded to j3-hydroformylation 78.2%, (y,y-diethoxybutyrate and j3-formylpropionic acid), and a-hydroformylation 21.7%, (a-methyl-j8-ethoxyacrylate and -methyl-j3,/3-diethoxypropionate). For ethyl crotonate, y-hydroformyla-tion occurred to the extent of 67-73% (8,8-diethoxyvalerate and y-formyl-butyrate) and a-hydroformylation to the extent of only 13.6% (a-ethyl-/ -ethoxyacrylate and j3-ethyl-j8-diethoxypropionate). 

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