Heptanal
Heptanal or heptanaldehyde is an alkyl aldehyde. It is a colourless liquid with a strong fruity odor, which is used as precursor to components in perfumes and lubricants.[2]
The formation of heptanal in the fractional distillation of castor oil[3] was already described in 1878. The large-scale production is based on the pyrolytic cleavage of ricinoleic acid[4] (Arkema method) and on the hydroformylation of 1-hexene with rhodium 2-ethylhexanoate as a catalyst upon addition of some 2-ethylhexanoic acid (Oxea method):[2][5]
Heptanal naturally occurs in the essential oils of ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata), clary sage (Salvia sclarea), lemon (Citrus x limon), bitter orange (Citrus x aurantium), rose (Rosa) and hyacinth (Hyacinthus).[6]
Heptanal is a flammable, slightly volatile colorless liquid of pervasive fruity to oily-greasy odor,[7] which is miscible with alcohols[6] and practically insoluble in water.[8] Because of its sensitivity to oxidation, heptanal is filled under nitrogen and stabilized with 100 ppm hydroquinone.[9]
Heptanal forms flammable vapor-air mixtures. The compound has a flash point of 39.5 °C.[8] The explosion range is between 1.1% by volume as the lower explosion limit (LEL) and 5.2% by volume as the upper explosion limit.[8] Its ignition temperature is 205 °C.[8]
Heptanal can be used for the production of 1-heptanol via hydrogenation:
The oxidation of heptanal with oxygen in the presence of a rhodium catalysts leads at 50 °C to heptanoic acid in 95% yield.[10] Heptanal reacts with benzaldehyde in a Knoevenagel reaction under basic catalysis with high yield and selectivity (> 90%) to jasminaldehyde,[11][2] which is mostly used in fragrances for its jasmine-like aroma as a cis/trans isomer mixture.[12]
A by-product of the given reaction is the unpleasant rancid smelling (Z)-2-pentyl-2-nonenal.[13] Nevertheless, heptanal can be converted into (Z)-2-pentyl-2-nonenal virtually quantitatively in the presence of aqueous boric acid upon azeotropic removal of water.[14]
Full hydrogenation provides the branched primary alcohol 2-pentylnonan-1-ol, also accessible from the Guerbet reaction from heptanol.[15]