Methyl nitrateMethyl nitrate is the methyl ester of nitric acid and has the chemical formula CH3NO3. It is a colourless explosive volatile liquid. It can be produced by the condensation of nitric acid and methanol: CH3OH + HNO3 → CH3NO3 + H2O A newer method uses methyl iodide and silver nitrate: CH3I + AgNO3 → CH3NO3 + AgI Methyl nitrate can be produced on a laboratory or industrial scale either through the distillation of a mixture of methanol and nitric acid, or by the nitration of methanol by a mixture of sulfuric and nitric acids.
NorbornadieneNorbornadiene is an organic compound and a bicyclic hydrocarbon. Norbornadiene is of interest as a metal-binding ligand, whose complexes are useful for homogeneous catalysis. It has been intensively studied owing to its high reactivity and distinctive structural property of being a diene that cannot isomerize (isomers would be anti-Bredt alkenes). Norbornadiene is also a useful dienophile in Diels-Alder reactions.
Methylmagnesium chlorideMethylmagnesium chloride is an organometallic compound with the general formula CH3MgCl. This highly flammable, colorless, and moisture sensitive material is the simplest Grignard reagent and is commercially available, usually as a solution in tetrahydrofuran. Relative to the more commonly encountered methylmagnesium bromide and methylmagnesium iodide, methylmagnesium chloride offers the advantages of low equivalent weight and low cost. It is prepared by the reaction of methyl chloride and magnesium in ethyl ether.
DecarboxylationDecarboxylation is a chemical reaction that removes a carboxyl group and releases carbon dioxide (CO2). Usually, decarboxylation refers to a reaction of carboxylic acids, removing a carbon atom from a carbon chain. The reverse process, which is the first chemical step in photosynthesis, is called carboxylation, the addition of CO2 to a compound. Enzymes that catalyze decarboxylations are called decarboxylases or, the more formal term, carboxy-lyases (EC number 4.1.1).
