As early as 1899, Traube and Lehmann'condensed ethylene oxide and epichlorohydrin with malonic ester to yield a-carbethoxy-y-butyrolactone and a-carbethoxy-6-chloro-y- valerolactone, respectively. Since that time, the epoxide reaction with malonic ester has been extended by various workers. 2, 3, 4, b Because of inner transesterification, an a- carbethoxy-y-butyrolactone was always the only product that could be isolated, except in ...
[Morizawa, Yoshitomi; Hiyama, Tamejiro; Oshima, Koichiro; Nozaki, Hitosi Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan, 1984 , vol. 57, # 4 p. 1123 - 1127]
