A student I am tutoring has asked me to help him formulate a synthesis

[mike.bayville]

A student I am tutoring has asked me to help him formulate a synthesis pathway for the compound N-ethylpent-4-enoate.

I have spent countless hours trying to determine the structural formula for this compound without success.

I must be missing something so obvious... Like leaves in a forest!

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.



Mike

 

[DrDu]

The big "N" means usually that the ethyl is bound to a nitrogen in the rest of the structure, however there is none. So this compound either does not exist or the formula you or your student provided is incomplete.

 

[mike.bayville]

I agree with you!

As a matter of fact, a Google search resulted in essentially one hit from 3 months ago on answers.yahoo.com and the person answering a question regarding the structural diagram of N-ethylpent-4-enoate came to the same conclusion you did.

Now, when I asked the student yesterday to ask his teacher today to confirm the compound name, while I was on hold he claimed to have contacted some other classmates who had successfully produced a synthesis pathway to N-ethylpent-4-enoate from ethane and pentane using "only small molecules and no other organic compounds" per the teacher's instructions.

I am beginning to wonder if he is pulling my leg?

I have to figure some way to get him to ask his teacher or just tell him I cannot help him... I do not know what else to do!

 

[mike.bayville]

A friend suggested the following formula, but it does not look right to me...

CH₃-CH₂-NH-O-C(=O)-CH₂-CH₂-CH=CH₂

Any thoughts?

 

[DrDu]

The molecule you were drawing is N-ethylpent-4-enamide