Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Pyrolysis Of Menthol, John James Westbrook Iii

Master's Theses

Research on the pyrolysis or organic compounds has received an increasing amount of attention in recent years. The pyrolysis of terpene hydrocarbons has been of interest primarily because of their wide-spread and abundant natural occurrence. In addition terpenes have been investigated because of their interesting stereochemistry.

Menthol is a C₁₀ monocyolic terpene alcohol. Its thermal decomposition at temperatures greater than 500°C has not been investigated previously because of inadequate methods of analysis.

The pyrolysis of other terpene hydrocarbons has revealed new routes to useful intermediates from relatively cheap source materials. Menthol, however, has never been considered as a possibility …