Recently, Miller and Teeter3 reported the formation of 1-butene, 1-butanol, and carbon dioxide from the thermal decomposition of either dibutyl maleate or dibutyl fumarate. These workers were unable to detect insolable quantities of 5-decene, which product could be expected by analogy to the Anschiitz reaction. It is therefore likely that the thermal decompositions of dialkyl and diaryl esters proceed by substantially different mechanisms. ...
