Electrochemical hydrogenation of citral 2. The effect of the components of the medium on the process of electrochemical reduction at a copper cathode

Article abstract of DOI:10.1007/BF00698998

The factors (concentration of citral, composition of the solvent, AcOH : citral ratio) affecting electrochemical hydrogenation of citral at an annealed copper cathode have been determined.The highest total yield (94percent) of the alcohols (nerol, geraniol, citranellol) with a considerable predominance of the latter is achieved at 40percent DMF in water, citral concentration 0.02 M, and AcOH : citral ratio = 10 : 1.The transition to purely organic or purely aqueous media leads to a decrease in both the total yield of the alcohols and the selectivity of the process. - Key words: copper cathode, citral, citronellol, electrochemical hydrogenation.