I remember reading on some post here that Nitroethane could be attained by reacting Nitromethane with Formaldehyde and then dehydrating it. I did some
research into this and found.
It talks about the reaction but says the product is Nitroethylene. Looking at the wiki-page it says Nitroethylene is also called Nitroethane. Though,
they[nirtoethane/nitroethylene] have different wiki pages, different molecular structures, as well as different CAS #'s.
Why are the two terms used interchangeably? Nitroethylene is larger regarded as useful in organic synthesis as well as usable in a
condensation reaction with benzaldehyde to form phenyl-2-nitropropenes, even though Nitroethane is the standard.
Do these two molecules behavior similarly? For condensation reactions would they function in the same manner as some texts indirectly imply?TheChemiKid - 13-12-2013 at 14:36
These are two different chemicals. Nitroethane (C2H5NO2) has a single bong between the two carbons. Nitroethylene
(C2H3NO2 has a double bond between the two carbons.ChemRaver - 13-12-2013 at 14:39
Is there any possibility to the validity of the claims of them being used interchangeably in organic condensation reactions?ChemRaver - 13-12-2013 at 14:42
Apparently it is possible to use basic reduction agents and reduce nitroethylene to nitroethane as I have just found outTheChemiKid - 13-12-2013 at 15:15
Can you provide a link?
Also, for future reference, you should edit your previous post, not create a new post.
No harm meant, just for future reference.ChemRaver - 13-12-2013 at 15:38
about.mdma.ch/000438964 - seems to originate from a sense deleted hive post. Though this is not the first place I have seen talking about reducing
nitroethene to -ethane. Nitromethane to Nitroethene/ethylene is well researched I believe.
Quote:
Method 23: Nitroethane from nitroethene (and nitroethanol)
Nitroethane via nitroethene reduction with NaBH4:
Post 216376 (slappy: "Re: Nitroethene Reduction to Nitroethane", Chemistry Discourse)
No clue if this works, but if the theory is correct it should be possible to methylate Nitromethane with Formaldehyde and then directly reduce the
nitroethanol to Nitroethane. The step of dehydrating the nitroethanol to nitroethene could be skipped by doing this. Since NaBr4 is being used as the
reducing agent, I would guess it might be possible to use LAH or even a simple electrolytic reduction in sulfuric acid followed by an acid-base
extraction to get the fresh Nitroethane. Theoretically this could all be done in one step by putting Nitromethane in an electrolytic cell with
Formaldehyde, mixing them, and then reducing them.
