| Abstract: | Methyl trifluoropyruvate (1) enters into reductive dimerization during UV irradiation in the presence of isopropyl alcohol or of a sensitizer and during reaction with sodium in the presence of trimethyldichlorosilane, giving dimethyl 2,3-bis(trifluoromethyl)-2,3-dihydroxysuccinate. Unlike hexafluoroacetone, compound 1 does not form the reductive dimerization product after prolonged standing over sodium but is converted into the cyclic dimer 2-methoxycarbonyl-4-methoxy-2,4-bis(trifluoromethyl)-1,3-dioxolan-5-one.A. N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Heteroorganic Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117813 Moscow. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1408–1411, June, 1992. |
