The selective conversion of d-limonene to p,α-dimethylstyrene

Abstract

Reaction conditions to facilitate the conversion of D-limonene selectively to p,α-dimethylstyrene (DMS) are described, in order to subsequently produce polymeric materials from biomass sourced from food waste. Limonene was dehydrogenated with several palladium catalysts and different solvents and bases, with copper chloride as oxidant at temperatures of 70–120 °C. Reaction conditions were identified using Pd(OAc)₂ for the selective formation of only DMS from limonene in 2–5 hours, enabling the facile separation of DMS from unreacted starting material by vacuum distillation.