Oxobicyclononane derivatives, process for producing same and organoleptic uses thereof

Claim 1

A product produced according to the process of reacting formic acid with bicyclononadiene to form a bicyclononenyl formate-containing mixture according to the reaction: ##STR77## and then reacting the resulting bicyclononenyl formate-containing mixture with a dialkyl carbonate defined according to the structure: ##STR78## according to the reaction: ##STR79## in the presence of an alkali metal alkoxide or aluminum isopropoxide catalyst at a temperature in the range of from 50° C. up to 90° C. wherein (a) in the compounds indicated by the structures having dashed lines such structures represent mixtures and in the mixtures in each of the compounds, one of the dashed lines represents a carbon-carbon double bond and the other of the dashed lines represents a carbon-carbon single bond; wherein N and P each represents 0 or 1; wherein R represents methyl or ethyl; with the provisos that when N is 0, P is 1 and when P is 0, N is 1; and when N is 1, the dashed line at the "2-3" position is a carbon-carbon single bond, the moieties: ##STR80## are bonded to the moiety: ##STR81## at the "2" or "3" position and the dashed line at the "5-6" position is a carbon-carbon double bond; and when P is 1, the dashed line at the "5-6" position is a carbon-carbon single bond, the moieties: ##STR82## are bonded to the moiety: ##STR83## at the "5" or "6" position and the dashed line at the "2-3" position is a carbon-carbon double bond; (b) the mole ratio of formic acid:bicyclononadiene is from about 2:1 up to about 7:1; and (c) the mole ratio of dialkyl carbonate:bicyclononenyl formate is from about 2:1 up to about 4:1.