In situ monitoring of mechanochemical Knoevenagel condensations
- Mechanaochemistry is an effective method to yield pure compounds within a short reaction time. Mechanochemical C-C bond forming reactions gained increasing interest in the past decade. Among those the Knoevenagel condensation is an important reaction for synthezing a,b-unsaturated compounds. The information on the underlying mechanisms of mechanochemical reactions are scarce. In situ investigations using Raman spectroscopy and synchroton XRD either alone or in combination address this challenge. We present the in situ results of a Knoevenagel condensation with p-nitrobenzaldehyde and malononitrile under neat grinding conditions.