The paper describes a synthesis of 2-allyl-2-ethylsuccinic anhydride (I), starting from ethyl cyanoacetate, with the Wolff rearrangement of diazo ketone XVI as the key step. The unsuccessful attempts at the synthesis are also described. The mechanism leading to an anomalous product of the reaction between cyanohydrine VI and sodium ethylcyanoacetate, viz. ethyl 2-cyano-3-methyl-5-oxoheptanoate (VIII), is also discussed.
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Hájíček et al. (1981) studied this question.