Synthesis and some properties of cyclic acetals of malonaldehyde

The Lewis acid-catalyzed addition of cyclic orthoformates to vinyl ethyl ether, which leads to the formation of malonaldehyde acetals, was studied. It is shown that of the linear-cyclic malonaldehyde acetals, 2-(2,2-diethoxyethyl)- and 5,5-dimethyl-2-(2,2-diethoxyethyl)-1,3-dioxanes are stable. The transacetalization of 1,1,3,3-tetraethoxypropane with 1,2- and 1,3-diols, which leads to the formation of cyclic malonaldehyde acetals, was studied. The physicochemical constants of the acetals were determined, and their ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra are described.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 459–463, April, 1983.