Abstract
In continuation of a preceding study, the course of the reaction between methyl methacrylate (2) and methyl 2‐sodioisobutyrate (1) was investigated, applying reaction times between 0,02 and 1,4 s, as a function of the following conditions: character of the solvent, effect of the addition of sodium tert‐butoxide, mole ratio 2/1, concentration of the reactants, and temperature. Under all conditions used, the reaction between 2 and 1 was very fast and gave rise, along with other compounds, to a mixture of oligomers of 2 with the average molecular weight obeying the ratio [2]:[1]~eff.~. The balance of products showed that in some cases only a part of 1 has reacted with 2, giving rise to the expected oligomers. The efficiency of 1 varied in the range from 24 to 100%, being mainly dependent on the character of the solvent (efficiency in THF > in toluene). Moreover, it was higher in the presence of sodium tert‐butoxide and with a higher 2/1 mole ratio. In experiments with a low efficiency of 1 a certain part of it remained unreacted, in spite of the presence of 2, for reasons not yet clear. The resulting oligomers undergo consecutive reactions. Starting with the trimer 3b, cyclizing selfcondensation was the most important of the consecutive reactions and could be easily investigated in the case of the trimer. The rate of this cyclization was much higher in THF than in other solvents used, and it was, therefore, difficult to obtain the linear trimer at room temperature. On the contrary, the addition of sodium tert‐butoxide or lowering the temperature suppressed the cyclization, which was especially easy to perceive in THF. Using the experience described in the study, it is possible to choose such conditions of the reaction between 1 and 2, under which the required oligomers are formed in good yield.