(760c) Terpene Oxidation Routes to Value-Added Bio-Based Chemicals Utilizing Heterogeneous Catalysis

Terpene compounds generated through biosynthesis have the potential to be further upgraded through chemical catalysis to valuable products. Among these terpene-enabled molecules, oxidized products are particularly interesting, motivating the development of terpene oxidation reactions that can lead to enhanced product selectivity. In this work, we focused on limonene oxidation to limonene oxide and limonene diol through liquid phase epoxidation using H₂O₂. The selectivity to the desired limonene oxide product were significantly influenced by the reaction conditions. We found that the presence of water in the system particularly needed to be carefully controlled to enhance selectivity. To access more compounds via oxidation, we further extended our target to limonene diol generated through the ring-opening reaction of limonene oxide. The overall goal for the work is to examine the potential of integrating biological products from the terpeniod pathway with subsequent chemical conversion to valuable products not readily accessible when using only biological or chemical catalysis.