Claisen condensation
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
A Claisen condensation is a C-C chemical bond formation reaction between two ester molecules in the presence of a strong base such as lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) or sodium ethoxide (EtO-).
At least one of the esters must possess an α-hydrogen atom as the first step of the reaction is deprotonation by the base to give an enolate ion:
The enolate then attacks the ester giving a β-Keto ester:
The reaction is named after Rainer Ludwig Claisen and is a type of Aldol condensation.
