One-Step Synthesis of Lemonile from Citral by Liquid Phase Catalytic Ammoxidation

Abstract

Lemonile is a new kind of spice. The new technology for synthesis of lemonile from citral by catalytic ammoxidation has been investigated. Experimental results showed the optimal synthetic conditions are as follows. The molar material ratio n(H2O2):n(Citral) is 3:1, solvent for the reaction is isopropanol, dosage of the catalyst CuCl is 3% (wt, calculated by citral), the drop-feeding temperature and time for hydrogen peroxide are 10 °C-14 °C and 3 hrs, respectively; after hydrogen peroxide being drop-fed into the reaction system, the reaction should be continued for 4 hrs. Lemonile yield is 91.2% and purity is 98.5% (detected by GC) under the optimal conditions. This new one-step liquid phase catalytic ammoxidation technology is a green synthesis way for lemonile. The structure of the product has been confirmed by GC-MS.