Structure XIV was assigned by analogy with 11. Some evidence for this structure was obtained from the physical properties of XIV. The fact that the material was not soluble in aqueous base suggested that XIV was not a monosubstituted malononitrile. Comparison of the infrared absorption spectra of XIV with the spectra of 11, benzyl-(methyl)-malononitrile (XVI) and S-naph-thylmethyl-(methyl)-malononitrile (XVII) showed that they all exhibit a ...
