Again an ignorant's question, sorry for that...
Myrcene obtained industrially by pyrolysis of dirt-cheap turpentine can be hydrogenated efficiently, as claimed by
http://www.rsc.org/publishing/journals/GC/article.asp?doi=b916017pinto
2,6-dimethyloctane which is a good rocket fuel, or rocket propellant.
Pictures of both molecules:
http://saposjoint.net/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=2609#p30260But I'd prefer to
add ethane instead of hydrogen, at all of myrcene's three double bonds.
This would raise the boiling point, hence the flash point, improving safety, while the even more ramified alkane keeps a very low melting point.
Is this cheap to do in hundreds or thousands of tons?
Does it involve adding C
2H
5Cl at the double bonds, then react the chlorinated product with hydrogen? Or is there a more direct way, like for hydrogenation?
Which side of the double bonds do you expect the ethyls to choose? A random mix of all isomers would improve the melting point.
Or is all this unnecessary, because a cheap ramified alkane around C
16H
34 already exists?
Thank you!
Marc Schaefer, aka Enthalpy