Millennium Specialty Chemicals, Inc.

Symrise, Inc.

Lyondellbasell Flavors and Fragrances, LLC

Douglas Ferone

Gennadiy Kolomeyer

Jacob S Oyloe

Spearmint flavor enhancers and methods for the production thereof. The spearmint flavor enhancers may include l-carvone, l-carveol isomers, and d-dihydrocarveol isomers. The spearmint flavor enhancers may further include l-isocarveol isomers, l-carvyl acetate isomers, d-dihydrocarvyl acetate isomers, and l-isocarvyl acetate isomers.

Spearmint flavor enhancer

A process for making trans-isocarveol, an intermediate useful in the manufacture of perillyl alcohol, is disclosed. The process comprises isomerizing a mixture comprising cis-limonene oxide (cis-LMO) and trans-limonene oxide (trans-LMO) in the presence of a phenolic modifier and a chromium catalyst. The process is performed at a temperature less than 220&#xb0; C. to convert more than 50% of the cis-LMO to trans-isocarveol and less than 50% of the trans-LMO to cis-isocarveol. We surprisingly found that a mixture of cis- and trans-LMO can be selectively isomerized to produce mostly trans-isocarveol, which we discovered is the preferred isomer for making perillyl alcohol by direct isomerization.

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A process for making perillyl alcohol is disclosed. The process comprises isomerizing a starting material comprising trans-isocarveol at a temperature within the range of 100&#xb0; C. to 220&#xb0; C. in the presence of a Group 5 metal catalyst to produce perillyl alcohol. We surprisingly found that trans-isocarveol, which can be selectively produced from a commercially available mixture of cis- and trans-LMO, can be isomerized directly to perillyl alcohol. Yields of perillyl alcohol are improved when the isomerization is performed under an inert atmosphere and/or in the presence of a phenolic antioxidant. Performing the isomerization in the presence of a high-boiling alcohol and/or distilling the perillyl alcohol product from the reaction mixture in the presence of a high-boiling alcohol, enhances yields and maximizes catalyst use. The resulting distillation residue, which contains recovered Group 5 metal catalyst, is valuable for catalyzing additional trans-isocarveol isomerizations.

Process for making perillyl alcohol

A two-step aldol condensation process is disclosed. &#x3b1;-Campholenic aldehyde (ACA) and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) react in the presence of a base under conditions effective to produce a mixture comprising a high yield of ketol condensation products. Dehydration of the ketols in the presence of an organic sulfonic acid provides unsaturated ketones that are valuable intermediates for fragrance components for synthetic sandalwood products. Compared with the usual one-step, base-catalyzed approach, the two-step process increases the yield of all condensation products and maximizes production of the most valuable ketone isomers.

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Jacksonville, FL, United States of America

Douglas Ferone