NOVELTIES OF ECLECTICALLY ENGINEERED SULFATED ZIRCONIA AND CARBON MOLECULAR-SIEVE CATALYSTS IN CYCLIZATION OF CITRONELLAL TO ISOPULEGOL

Sulfated zirconia (S-ZrO2) is a well-known solid superacid catalyst us ed in various reactions of commercial importance such as isomerisation , alkylation and acylation, nitration, etc. The selectivity towards th e formation of isopulegol, a potential intermediate in the synthesis o f menthol, can be drastically increased by using carbon molecular siev e (CMS) with S-ZrO2.