Process for making monomenthyl esters

摘要

A process for making monomenthyl esters of dicarboxylic acids is disclosed. Menthol reacts with a saturated, cyclic anhydride in the presence of a base catalyst under conditions effective to produce a mixture of mono- and bis-menthyl esters in which the molar ratio of mono- to bis-menthyl esters is enhanced compared with the ratio of esters produced in a similar uncatalyzed process.