Swim has been considering trying the lead acetate + phenylacetic acid -> p2p reaction, but is a little confused. In xtaldoc's post
Post 193343 (missing)
(xtaldoc: "RE: Has anyone tried the PAA + Pb acetate synth?", Chemistry Discourse) and rhodium's repost
Post 225635
(Rhodium: "PAA -> P2P using lead acetate", Methods Discourse), it is stated that litharge (PbO2) is used with glacial acetic acid to produce the needed lead acetate. After searching, swim's findings dictate that "litharge" is commonly PbO, not PbO2.
So swim's question is, which lead oxide (or both possibly) is appropriate for this reaction?
Comments appreciated.
[edit]
Another question, the post also states,
So, the first modification was to run it under a partial vacuum (5" Hg suction on a standard gauge). Is he refering to an internal reaction vessel pressure of 5" Hg or ~25" Hg?