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Propyl levulinate is a colorless to pale yellow transparent liquid with a faint ester-like odor. Its molecule contains an ester group (–COO–), which gives it a certain degree of polarity. It is soluble in a variety of organic solvents, such as ethanol, diethyl ether, and acetone, but has low solubility in water.

ChEBI: Propyl levulinate is an oxo carboxylic acid.

General procedure for the synthesis of propyl 4-oxopentanoate from n-propanol and acetylpropionic acid: the esterification of acetylpropionic acid was carried out in a 50 mL round-bottomed flask fitted with a reflux condenser tube. In a typical catalyzed reaction, catalyst (40 mg) was added to a mixture of acetylpropionic acid and n-propanol, where the molar ratio of acetylpropionic acid to n-propanol was 1:8 (with n-propanol acting as both the reactant and the solvent), and the mixture was subsequently magnetically stirred for 2 hours at 333 K. The reaction was carried out in a 50 mL round bottom flask equipped with a reflux condenser tube. After the reaction reached the predetermined time, a portion of the reaction mixture was taken and separated by filtration and the filtrate was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) equipped with a flame ionization detector and a capillary column. All the compounds were characterized by their spectral data (1H NMR) and compared with the data reported in literature.

[1] RSC Advances, 2016, vol. 6, # 3, p. 2106 - 2111
[2] Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1930, vol. 52, p. 4883
[3] Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1933, vol. 55, p. 3393
[4] Patent: US2029412, 1934,
[5] Journal fuer Praktische Chemie (Leipzig), 1955, vol. <4> 1, p. 153,154