Dr. Hansen, Department of Chemistry
Dr. Shao, Department of Chemistry
Compounds with antimicrobial properties have the ability to kill or inhibit the growth of microorganisms. The efficacy of these compounds can be affected by the location and number of functional groups present in a molecule. The goal of the research is to synthesize different derivatives of esters of malonic acids and analyze their chemical properties and determine if they possess antimicrobial activity for future research.
The purpose of this experiment will be to synthesize aryl substituted methylene malonates and confirm their structures using spectroscopic techniques. This will be done using similar techniques to the literature based on the Knoevenagel reaction. The reactions of the naphthaldehydes with diethyl malonate, piperidine, and acetic acid will be done over a period of 18-24 hours at 50° C. Synthesis, characterization, and electrochemistry results on the malonate derivatives will be reported. The identities of the compounds will be confirmed with the use of GC-MS, NMR, and IR Spectroscopy.