NEUTRAMENTH · A redox-neutral process for the cost-efficient and environmentally friendly production of Menthol

Menthol is an organic compound which ranks as the world's most popular flavour due to its uniquely fresh taste. It is present in a myriad of everyday products, from shower gel to toothpaste to cooling ointment. It is most widely produced industrially from Citronellal in a sequence of metal-promoted cyclisation followed by precious metal-catalysed hydrogenation. The use of metals in synthesis presents issues associated with cost, environmental friendliness and product contamination. In the ERC CoG project VINCAT, the group of Prof. Maulide has made groundbreaking discoveries in redox-neutral transformations and has uncovered a carbon-carbon bond forming reaction that allows the production of Menthol from Citronellal in a single step and without the need for any metal-catalyzed event. The goal of this PoC project is to optimize the metal-free conversion of Citronellal to Menthol in a single step, to demonstrate technical feasibility and implementation on large scale and to implement the relevant market analysis and IPR strategy.