Ester gives nucleophilic addition reaction followed by elimination reaction with carbon nucleopile. When carbon nucleophile is of an ester then the reaction is known as Claisen condensation reaction. This reaction is also carried out between ester and a ketone. A suC Cessful Claisen condensation requires an ester with two `alpha-` hydrogens and an equivalent amount of base rather than a catalytic amount of base. Consider the given reaction
`CH_(3)-COOC_(2)H_(5)underset(C_(2)H_(5)OH)overset(C_(2)H_(5)ONa)rarr"enolate ion"underset("Claisen condensation")overset("ether(X)")rarr` Product
For the above reaction the most reactive ester is :

Options

A. `C_(6)H_(5)COOC_(2)H_(5)`
B. `C_(2)H_(5)O-overset(O)overset(||)C-overset(O)overset(||)C-OC_(2)H_(5)`
C. `HCOOC_(2)H_(5)`
D. `C_(2)H_(5)O-overset(O)overset(||)C-OC_(2)H_(5)`

Answer

B