Summary of the experiment: testing whether condensation of nitrothane and benzaldehyde can proceed using potassium hydroxide as a base catalyst instead of an organic amine catalyst.
- Setup: nitrothane (5 g) and benzaldehyde (7 g) with methanol (5 mL) as solvent; initial reaction without catalyst showed no progress.
- Base-catalyzed attempt: dissolved 4 g KOH in 10 mL methanol, cooled to 0 °C, and added dropwise over ~20 minutes with stirring in an ice bath; color slowly darkened toward yellow, suggesting some product formation.
- Quench and workup: neutralized with dilute HCl, separated phases; product appeared as a yellow bottom layer largely containing unreacted benzaldehyde; attempts to crystallize/evaporate yielded no crystals.
- Conclusion: the KOH base route did not effectively form the condensation product under these conditions; literature suggests using an organic amine catalyst or ammonium acetate for this reaction; crystallization/purification incomplete, so the attempt was unsuccessful.
