A chemometric approach based on a full factorial design to optimize terpene acylation using natural kaolin as eco-friendly catalyst

A statistical approach was successfully applied to optimize the acylation of l-menthol 1 in the presence of natural kaolin as an eco-compatible catalyst. The influence of the main variation of the operating parameters, namely solvent volume, amount of the acyl donor, temperature and the catalytic rate of kaolin, was studied. A full factorial design (FFD) was used to search for the optimum of each parameter affecting the evolution of l-menthol 1 acylation. A quadratic polynomial regression model was applied to analyse the experimental data with a p-confidence level <.05 (95%). Statistical analysis of the data confirmed that temperature (T), acyl donor/acceptor ratio (Qa), kaolin mass (Qc) and solvent volume (V) were the significant factors affecting the l-menthol catalytic acylation process. The determination coefficient of the adopted model was in the order of 98%. A set of optimal reaction conditions was established, and experimental tests were performed to validate the optimal conditions; the threshold of 100% was reached. Monitoring the kinetic profile of the reaction by gas chromatography (GC) showed complete conversion after 30 min of reaction. An upgrade of this developed environmentally benign process was applied to some monoterpenic alcohols, and the corresponding acetates were yielding at 45%–90%.