Guerbet chemistry

Although the chemistry named after Marcel Guerbet was developed over 100 yr ago, Guerbet alcohols, Guerbet acids, and derivatives based upon them remain a topic of continued interest because of their (i) unique branching pattern, both in terms of size of the branch group and purity of the compounds, (ii) oxidative stability, and (iii) liquidity of the products. This review article is offered to demonstrate the diversity of chemistry possible using these materials and the large variety of applications for which these compounds are useful.