As submitted by
Zealot to HyperLab:
"...the procedure is so simple (as all diazomethane procedures are) that i at 1st didn't even want to waste the bees' time posting it, but since you asked....
The amine is dissolved in hexane or ether, to it there's added 1-2% by weight of the amine CuSO
4 (unhydrous) and an equimolar qtty of diazomethan in hexane is dripped into the mixtr. That's it.
The only difficulty would bee during separation of amines (an insignificant qtty of dimethyl derivative is formed). To do that one'd have to add to the HCl salts' soln a saturated soln of NaNO
2. The monomethylamine's nitrosoderivative is xtracted w/ether and then hydrolized (i don't know exactly how - never bothered w/that). Dimethylamino salt doesn't react w/NaNO
2 and stays in the aqueous phase. The non-methylated amine is converted to alcohol during the hydrolysis stage (BTW, i've heard that it's rather harmful to the body if not got rid of). So , IMHO, i just ain't worth bothering - esp. considering the fact that the qtty of impurities is negligible. The yield is usually around 95%, and the most part of the other 5% (~4%) is polymethylene, which is completely removed during A/B extraction."
See
Post 288566
(Antoncho: "Diazomethane. Methylations with diazomethane.", Novel Discourse) for the preparation of diazomethane. BTW,
Garin of HyperLab has made a great compilation on diazomethane from various literature sources - it contains several synthetic pathways to it as well as a ton of useful info on handling this compound safely - if anybee has a
practical interest in any of the DM procedures, i'll gladly translate the meaningful parts.
Just let me repeat once again that every author i read says that DM is not so horrible in dealing with at all - if you follow the safety precautions and isn't dangerous at all in dilute solutions. Poisonous anyways, yes
.
Regards to EveryBee,
Antoncho