Abstract: Catalytic hydration of dihydromyrcenol in subcritical water(SCW) was studied using strong-acid cation exchange resin NKC-9 as catalyst. The probable reaction mechanism was explored. The influences of reaction temperature, catalyst dose, reaction pressure and molar ratio of water to dihydromyrcene on hydration were investigated. Experimental results show that dihydromyrcenol is the main hydrated product, and the reaction rate increases with the increases of temperature and dosage of catalyst. The reaction pressure has negligible effect on the reaction. Under the reaction conditions of catalyst dosage 19%, molor ratio of dihydromyrcene to water 35:1, pressure 8.0MPa, reaction time 6h, the conversion of dihydromyrcenol was 13.27% and yield of the products was 4.56%.

Key words: dihydromyrcene, subcritical water, hydration, dihydromyrcenol