OPTIMIZATION BY THE SIMPLEX-METHOD OF A M ICROEMULSION AS THE REACTION MEDIUM FOR THE PEROXIDATION OF CITRONELLOL BY A CHEMICAL SOURCE OF SINGLET OXYGEN

Microemulsions are suitable reaction media to carry out the oxidation of citronellol with the chemical source of singlet oxygen H2O2/MoO42-, Each of the components present during the reaction: sodium dodecylsul fate (SDS), butanol (BuOH), methylene choride (CH2Cl2), citronellol, w ater, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and sodium molybdate has an influence on the stability of the microemulsion. The optimization of the reactio n medium by the usual approach, i.e. changing the parameters one by on e, was found to be inefficient on account of complex interactions betw een these components. On the other hand, the resort to a stepwise meth od of optimization, the simplex, coupled to a desirability function al lowed us to identify the best possible compromise between our Conflict ing aims.