Patent ID: 8093432

Claim:
A process for epimerization of a cyclohexene comprising: providing to a reactor a first isomer of a 1-(2-alkyl-3-cyclohexen-1-yl)-alkanone compound according to Formula I wherein R 1 and R 2 are each independently C 1 -C 4 alkyl, and R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7 , and R 8 are each independently selected from the group consisting of H and C 1 -C 4 alkyl; and epimerizing the first isomer of the 1-(2-alkyl-3-cyclohexen-1-yl)-alkanone with a metal alkoxide base selected from the group consisting of potassium tert-butoxide, lithium tert-butoxide, titanium tetra-n-butoxide, titanium tetra-iso-propoxide, and mixtures of any thereof to form a second isomer of the 1-(2-alkyl-3-cyclohexen-1-yl)-alkanone.