Phytol → Dihydrophytol

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a solution containing 50 g (169 mmol) of phytol (3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-hexadec-2-en-1-ol, 97% mixture of isomers) and 200 ml ethanol, reaction catalysis Raney nickel (5 g, 50% slurry in water) was added. After stirring the mixture under hydrogen atmosphere (15 psi) for 2 days, the catalyst was removed by vacuum filtration several times through the combination layers of silica and Celite bed on the top. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give phytanol (48.8 g, 97.0%) as a colourless oil. 1H NMR in CDCl3: δ0.83, 0.85, 0.86, 0.88, 0.91 (5s, each 3H, CH3), 0.94-1.71 (m, 25H, 10CH2+4CH+OH), 3.58-3.78 (m, 2H, CH2OH).

Provenance & Evidence