p-Cymene as Solvent for Olefin Metathesis: Matching Efficiency and Sustainability.
The underexploited biorenewable p-cymene is employed as a solvent for the metathesis of various substrates. p-Cymene is a nontoxic compound that can be obtained in large amounts as a side product of the cellulose and citrus industry. For the cross-metathesis of estragole with methyl acrylate, this solvent prevents the consecutive double-bond isomerization of the product and affords the best yield of all solvents tested. Undesired consecutive isomerization is a major challenge for many substrates in olefin metathesis, including pharmaceutical precursors, and the use of p-cymene as a solvent may be a way to prevent it. This solvent results in a better metathesis performance than toluene for the three substrates tested in this work, matching its performance for two other substrates.
['Granato|Artur V|AV|', 'Santos|Alexandra G|AG|', 'Dos Santos|Eduardo N|EN|']
D000475:Alkenes D000081007:Cymenes D007536:Isomerism D039821:Monoterpenes D012997:Solvents
p-cymene olefins metathesis homogeneous catalysis renewable resources