Patent ID: 8629312

Claim:
A method for the decarboxylation of an organic carboxylic acid comprising: a) reacting an organic carboxylic acid of the formula (I): R—CH(Y)—CH(Z)—CO 2 H (I) wherein R is (C 8 -C 20 )alkyl or C 8 -C 20 alkenyl, Y and Z are H or an organic group, with pivalic anhydride to yield a reaction mixture comprising a mixed anhydride of the formula (II): R 1 —C(O)—O—C(O)—CH(Z)—CH(Y) R (II) wherein R 1 is t-butyl; b) reacting the mixed anhydride with a catalytic amount of Pd(PPh 3 ) 4 , provided by combining PdCl 2 with excess PPh 3 so that Pd(PPh 3 ) 4 is about 0.01-0.1 mol-% of (I), to yield an intermediate (III) of the formula| R 1 —C(O)—O—Pd(PPh 3 ) 2 —C(O)—CH(Z)—CH(Y)R (III) c) decomposing intermediate (III) to yield a compound of formula R—C(Y)═CH(Z)(IV) and P(Ph 3 ) 4 , wherein steps (a)-(c) are carried out in the absence of a solvent; and d) isolating the compound of formula (IV) from the reaction mixture by distillation at above about 190° C. at less than 1 atm pressure.