To 55 g (0.5mol) Benzaldehyde in a 500ml Flask were added 40 g (0.5mol) Nitroethane and 10ml Cyclohexylamine. All was refluxed for 6h on a water bath. The result were 2 layers. One orange layer at the bottom with phenyl-2-nitropropene and a clear layer at the top with cyclohexylamine and maybe a little bit (~1ml) of H20. 50ml of H2O were added and then sucked off with a pipette until the phenyl-2-nitro-propene crystallized (it crystallized when it came in touch with air in presence of 15ml H2O). I added 200ml 95% denaturated ethanol to the orange crystals. The color of the now needle-like crystals changed from orange to white-yellow. The crystals were filtered. Yield 65 g, 78% of theory.
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What is the cyclohyxylamine good for, could one be without it, and is there any OTC source for it?
Thank you for your answer