Ethyl cyanohydroxyiminoacetate Ethyl cyanohydroxyiminoacetate Ethyl cyanohydroxyiminoacetate (oxyma) is the oxime of ethyl cyanoacetate and finds use as an additive for carbodiimides, such as dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) in peptide synthesis. It acts as a neutralizing reagent for the basicity or nucleophilicity of the DCC due to its pronounced acidity (pKa 4.60) and suppresses base catalyzed side reactions, in particular racemization. Ethyl cyanohydroxyiminoacetate is obtained in the reaction of ethyl cyanoacetate and nitrous acid (from sodium nitrite and acetic acid) in 87% yield. Because of the rapid hydrolysis of the ester, the reaction should be carried out at pH 4.5, in buffered phosphoric acid the
Ethyl carbamate externally where it is able to react with the alcohol to create ethyl carbamate. In 1988, wine and other alcoholic beverage manufacturers in the United States agreed to control the level of ethyl carbamate in wine to less than 15 ppb (parts per billion), and in stronger alcoholic drinks to less than 125 ppb. Although the urea cannot be eliminated, it can be minimized by controlling the fertilization of grape vines, minimizing their heat exposure, using self-cloning yeast and other actions. Furthermore, some strains of yeast have been developed to help reduce ethyl carbamate during commercial production of alcoholic beverages.