It's okay. We're all human beings.
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It would make a lot of sense if I wrote all my tests on a chronological timeline; you'd see that they all have really logical explanations.
When I performed oxidation with pre-prepared peracetic acid, I was left with a crystallized liquid. Since I used a buffering agent, I thought these were sodium acetate crystals.
However, when I didn’t use a buffering agent, I noticed that I obtained crystals with a strong acetic acid smell, and no matter how much I washed them, the smell wouldn’t go away.
These crystals also had a lower melting point than the starting ketone. I never encountered this in an in-situ reaction.
That’s why I thought the crystals were the unreacted aldol product, and since everyone said I should have smelled a "sweet aroma," I assumed the reaction was a failure.
In Böeseken's article, he stated that this ester could form two isomers and give a semi-liquid, semi-solid ester.
The acetic acid smell was due to partial hydrolysis because when the acetoxy ester undergoes hydrolysis, it forms P2P and acetic acid. It took me a while to put all the pieces together.
Although I'm still not entirely sure whether what I obtained is P2P, it should be. I performed a reductive amination, but I’m not keen on using the product without confirming its identity.
It freezes between -15 and -22 degrees, and when I take it out of the freezer, it turns liquid again within a short time.
As you know, aldol products maintain their crystalline form once frozen. This is definitely not the aldol product. But we will see.