Abstract: Decarboxylation of carboxylic acids using diazabicycloalkenes and, if desired, also a simple copper salt, as the means for decarboxylation.

Abstract: This invention provides a convenient and commercially adaptable process for the preparation of vinylcyclopropane derivatives in high yields. The process involves reacting an alkylating agent and an activated methylene compound in the presence of an onium compound, an alkali metal compound and water, which while only necessary in trace amounts can be present in substantial quantities.

Abstract: The wash liquor resulting from the nitration of aromatic compounds is contacted with a quantity of the same aromatic compound being nitrated and the resultant solution is recycled to the nitration process.

Abstract: A process for the continuous catalytic vapor-phase mononitration of aromatic compounds, especially benzene, using as the catalyst an .alpha.-fluorosulfonic acid polymer admixed with a complement inert to the nitration reaction and dimensionally stable under the reaction conditions.

Abstract: 2-Nitrobenzaldehyde, a valuable chemical intermediate, is produced by treating the alkali metal salt of a 2-nitrophenylpyruvic acid with an alkali metal hypochlorite in an aqueous medium to produce the corresponding 2-nitrobenzylidene chloride which, upon hydrolysis, yields the desired aldehyde. The 2-nitrophenylpyruvic acid starting material is advantageously prepared through the reaction of a 2-nitrotoluene and a diester of oxalic acid in the presence of an alkali metal alcoholate and can be used directly in the subsequent hypochlorite reaction without isolation. The process is industrially attractive in terms of the overall yield, the availability of starting materials, and the ease of the manipulative steps involved.

Abstract: Nitrophenylacetylene and certain precursors to nitrophenylacetylene are prepared in improved yields by reacting a nitrobromobenzene with a substituted terminal acetylene compound containing at least three carbon atoms and a hydroxy group on the carbon atom adjacent to the acetylene group in the presence of a dialkyl or trialkyl amine solvent and a catalyst system consisting of a palladium complex containing two halogen moieties and two tri-substituted phosphine moieties and some excess trisubstituted phosphine compounds.