Jackson - 16-4-2019 at 12:42
Could diacetone alcohol be used for this synthesis? Would the ketone group inhibit it from working or would it still work?
draculic acid69 - 16-4-2019 at 20:50
Try it and tell us
Assured Fish - 16-4-2019 at 20:54
Steric bulk aside, I doubt it.
Sodium is a pretty strong reducing agent and is used to reduce other carbonyls in conjunction with alcohols.
A classic example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouveault%E2%80%93Blanc_reduct...
While esters do have very different properties to ketones, the reaction mechanism with sodium is virtually the same (enolation to form sodium
enolate). The rest of the reduction while it might be somewhat hindered, would certainly take place to atleast some extent, especially at temperature
in excess of 200*C.
Im not telling you not to try it, just don't be surprised if it fails miserably.
Menthol is quite easy to aquire if you are merely interested in preparing sodium via this method.
Jackson - 17-4-2019 at 08:33
I was more interested in how the ketone group would affect the reaction, rather than actually trying it.
draculic acid69 - 17-4-2019 at 22:00
So far it's unknown