Chemical Properties
Colorless liquid
Uses
Methyl levulinate is mainly used as raw material on perfume.
Definition
ChEBI: Methyl levulinate is an oxo carboxylic acid.
General Description
Methyl levulinate can be synthesized from glucose in the presence of a few drops of dilute sulfuric acid in methanol.
Synthesis
The acid was converted to the ester by boiling in methanol (0.5 M solution) in the presence of concentrated sulfuric acid (500 L). The reaction was followed by TLC (heptane/EtOAc 2:1). When only trace amounts of acid remained, the reaction mixture was cooled, concentrated, diluted with NaHCO3 solution, extracted with DCM, dried with MgSO4 and concentrated to give the end product methyl acetylpropionate.
