Several years ago it was noted in this Laboratory that the hygrogenation of acetoacetic ester with Adams platinum oxide catalyst proceeded at a considerably slower rate than that of a simple ketone, such as acetone. The most apparent reason for this behavior was the close proximity of the carbethoxy group to the carbonyl group in the acetoacetic ester molecule. Since a series of bromo esters of the type CH3CHBr (CH2), COOC2H~ were needed for ...
