One hundred and twenty-five grams (1.06 moles) of ethyl lactate is placed in a suitable
Pyrex container which is subsequently cooled in a
Dry Ice-acetone bath. When the ester has been cooled below the boiling point of
ammonia (Note
1),
125 ml. of liquid ammonia (Note
2) is added. The mixture is then placed in a specially constructed steel pressure apparatus (Note
3) and permitted to come to room temperature. After 24 hours (Note
4) the excess of
ammonia is allowed to escape slowly through the gas outlet of the bomb. The last traces of
ammonia are removed under reduced pressure. The reaction product is stirred with
200 ml. of absolute ether to dissolve unchanged ester and
ethanol. The residue is filtered, washed with
ether, and air-dried. The yield of
lactamide melting at
74–75° amounts to
65–70 g. (
70–74%) (Note
5).