Potassium ethyl xanthate Potassium ethyl xanthate Potassium ethyl xanthate (KEX) is an organosulfur compound with the chemical formula CHCHOCSK. It is a pale yellow powder that is used in the mining industry for the separation of ores. Unlike the related sodium ethyl xanthate, the potassium salt exists as an anhydrous salt. Xanthate salts are prepared by the action of alkoxides on carbon disulfide. The alkoxide is often generated in situ from potassium hydroxide: Potassium ethyl xanthate is a pale yellow powder that is stable at high pH but rapidly hydrolyses at pH <9 at 25 °C. Unlike the sodium derivative, potassium xanthate crystallizes
Ethyl acetoacetate acetate. Two moles of ethyl acetate condense to form one mole each of ethyl acetoacetate and ethanol. Ethyl acetoacetate is subject to keto-enol tautomerism. In the neat liquid at 33 °C, the enol consists of 15% of the total. Ethyl acetoacetate is often used in the acetoacetic ester synthesis similar to diethyl malonate in the malonic ester synthesis or the Knoevenagel condensation. The protons alpha to carbonyl groups are acidic, and the resulting carbanion can undergo nucleophilic substitution. A subsequent thermal decarboxylation is also possible. Similar to the behavior of acetylacetone, the enolate of ethyl acetoacetate can also serve as