Terpenes belong to what is probably the largest and most diverse class of natural products with applications in several industries due to their flavor and fragrance. Their high number, variety of structures and chemical complexity, make of them a class of compounds for which there are still many studies to be carried out and questions to be answered both concerning their thermophysical properties and phase equilibria.<br/><br/>Due to their very low solubility in water and low price, terpenes mixtures arise as candidates to prepare sustainable and cheap hydrophobic solvents. Limonene has been studied as an alternative to hydrocarbon based solvents in the recycling and reduction of polystyrene volume, and mixtures of the monoterpenoids menthol, borneol, camphor and thymol have been investigated in the pharmaceutical field.<br/><br/>The main goal of this work was to prepare eutectic solvents composed by the terpenes menthol and thymol, and the monocarboxylic caprylic, capric, lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic and oleic acids. Phase diagrams of these mixtures were characterized and analyzed in the whole composition range, through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Moreover, the physicochemical properties density and viscosity of the eutectic point were measured in order to characterize these systems. SLE phase diagrams were modeled with the perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory (PC-SAFT).

Thermodynamic study of hydrophobic eutectic solvents based on terpenes

254th National Meeting (2017)

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