Use of pickering emulsions in the reaction of obtaining terpineol from grapefruit essential oilthe title must be in upper case

Abstract

The aim of this work was to increase the yield and selectivity in the reaction of obtaining α-terpineol from limonene, a major component of the grapefruit essential oil, with the use of water:oil pickering emulsions. The stabilizing solids of the emulsion were activated carbon, bentonite, silica and alumina. The emulsions were characterized by measuring their conductivity in different water:oil ratios to determine the point where the phase inversion of the emulsion occurs. The oil/water (o/w) type pickering emulsions were prepared, establishing the optimum mass concentrations of each solid. The maximum yield obtained in α-terpineol was 43% using silica, 36% more than in reaction medium without solids. It was also possible to reuse the solids twice without differences in the yield of the reaction.