Alkoxycarbonylation of Unsaturated Phytogenic Substrates Using Palladium Catalysts as a Way for Obtaining Ester Products

The synthesis of esters by alkoxycarbonylation of unsaturated phytogenic substrates makes it possible to use alternative feedstocks and solve a series of problems in the chemical industry: resource saving, waste minimization, and improvement of environmental safety and economicalefficiency of the processes being implemented. However, only the production of methyl methacrylate, which includes methoxycarbonylation of ethylene as one of the steps, has been implemented on the industrial scale by now. The aim of this review is to systematize and analyze the literature data published since 2010 on the synthesis of esters by alkoxycarbonylation of phytogenic substrates under mild conditions. It was found that the alkoxycarbonylation of pentenoic and undecenoic acids, oleic, linoleic and erucic acids or their esters as well as terpene compounds – citronellic acid and b-myrcene – has been performed in the indicated period. High yields and selectivities to the linear structured products were reached under mild conditions mostly due to the application of homogeneous palladium-diphosphine catalysts. Results of these studies open up ample opportunities for implementing new industrial processes of alkoxycarbonylation of phytogenic substrates aimed to obtain the advanced chemical products, particularly polymers.