Synthesis, thermal, mass and ab initio analyses of cyclopropane-1,1,2-tricarboxylic acid

The preparation of cyclopropane-1,1,2-tricarboxylic acid from cyanoacetic acid and 2,3-dibropropionic acid has been done in one-step procedure in alkaline medium. The compound has been characterized, by nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, and thermal analyses. The mass spectrum showed the molecular ion peak in the negative mode. The thermal analysis results show that the compound decomposes in three steps, and the second step of decomposition was tentatively assigned to the loss of two carboxylic acid groups. Also, theoretical calculations were made in order to assign vibrations and determine the most stable structure for the compound. q 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.