so supposedly, in a knoevenagel condensation, if the catalyst is a primary or secondary base, an iminium salt is supposed to be formed.
however, reaction with a secondary base (piperidine) as well as with diethyl malonate, and i think that this reaction proceeds as if it was done with a tertiary base
i.e. piperidine takes a proton from diethyl malonate, and diethyl malonate(-) attacks the carbonyl, and it proceeds from there. can someone clarify what's going on?