Continuous Synthesis of Triethyl Methanetricarboxylate in Tubular

Diethyl malonate was used as the initial material to react with home-made magnesium ethoxide,the obtained ethoxycarbonyl magnesium diethyl malonate reacted with ethyl chloroformate in a tubular reactor to give a reaction mixture of triethyl carboxylic acid methyl chloride,which was acidified,washed,evaporated and freeze-crystallized to give triethyl methanetricarboxylate,with an overall yield of 95% and a purity of 99.5%.The influencing factors of the total yield in tubular reactor process were investgated,such as the ratio of reactants,reaction temperature,residence time.Notable advantages of this process are good heat dissipation,short reaction time,low cost,high yield and suitable for industrial production.