Knoevenagel condensation

The Knoevenagel condensation (pronounced ) reaction is an organic reaction named after Emil Knoevenagel. It is a modification of the aldol condensation. A Knoevenagel condensation is a nucleophilic addition of an active hydrogen compound to a carbonyl group followed by a dehydration reaction in which a molecule of water is eliminated (hence condensation). The product is often an α,β-unsaturated ketone (a conjugated enone). In this reaction the carbonyl group is an aldehyde or a ketone. The catalyst is usually a weakly basic amine. The active hydrogen component has the form where Z is an electron withdrawing functional group. Z must be powerful enough to facilitate deprotonation to the enolate ion even with a mild base. Using a strong base in this reaction would induce self-condensation of the aldehyde or ketone. The Hantzsch pyridine synthesis, the Gewald reaction and the Feist–Benary furan synthesis all contain a Knoevenagel reaction step. The reaction also led to the discovery of CS gas. With malonic compounds the reaction product can lose a molecule of carbon dioxide in a subsequent step. In the so-called Doebner modification the base is pyridine. For example, the reaction product of acrolein and malonic acid in pyridine is trans-2,4-Pentadienoic acid with one carboxylic acid group and not two. A Knoevenagel condensation is demonstrated in the reaction of 2-methoxybenzaldehyde 1 with the thiobarbituric acid 2 in ethanol using piperidine as a base. The resulting enone 3 is a charge transfer complex molecule. The Knoevenagel condensation is a key step in the commercial production of the antimalarial drug lumefantrine (a component of Coartem):