Ester pyrolysis in organic chemistry is a vacuum pyrolysis reaction converting esters containing a β-hydrogen atom into the corresponding carboxylic acid and the alkene. The reaction is an Ei elimination.
Examples are the synthesis of acrylic acid from ethyl acrylate at 590°C [1], the synthesis of 1,4-pentadiene from 1,5-pentanediol diacetate at 575°C [2] or the construction of a cyclobutene framework at 700°C [3]
ester pyrolysis is a syn elimination