Separation of carvone by batch distillation from the mixture obtained from limonene oxidation

Limonene is the main constituent of citrus oils whose oxidation produces a set fine chemical compounds such as carvone, carveol, and limonene 1,2-epoxide. This contribution reports results experimental evaluation computational simulation carvone separation by fractional distillation from reaction mixture. Carvone was obtained over perchlorinated iron phthalocyanine supported on modified silica catalyst (FePcCl16-NH2-SiO2) t-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) oxidant. Both support that (in batch continuous) suitable technique for concentrating carvone. However, in presence water, formation immiscible L-L phases makes more difficult. Simulation incorporating NRTL-RK thermodynamic model indicate if acetone, t-butanol are previously removed mixture, composition can be enriched reboiler 4% up to 50%, or around 86.5% removal third distillate cut under vacuum conditions.