Modeling the Reaction Process for the Synthesis of Ethyl Chrysanthemate from Ethyl Diazoacetate in a Micro-Flow Platform

Ethyl diazoacetate can react with 2,5-dimethyl-2,4-hexadiene to yield ethyl chrysanthemumate, an important raw material for synthesizing various pesticides. In conventional conditions, this cyclopropanation process suffers from low efficiency and yield due to ethyl diazoacetate. This demands more understanding of the catalytic process from the mechanism and modeling to find a solution. In this work, we set up a micro-flow platform to carefully study the kinetic characteristics of the cyclopropanation reaction of ethyl diazoacetate catalyzed by a complex of copper stearate and phenylhydrazine. Through a reasonable simplification of the reaction network, we established a reaction kinetic model with good prediction capacity within a wide range of operating conditions. It provides a basis for guiding the development of efficient conversion processes and condition optimization.