SummaryThe electrochemical synthesis of muscalure, (Z)-9-tricosene(l), has been carried out by coelectrolysis of erucic acid (2) and propionic acid (3) in an undivided cell in methanol. To optimize the yield of the cross coupled product 1, the reaction has been studied in detail by varying different parameters, uiz., electrode material, current density, molar ratio of 2 to 3, degree of partial neutralization and quantity of water in methanol.Introduction. -The isolation, identification and Synthesis of 1 arising from a Wittig reaction between l-bromotetradecane and nonanal, a sex attractant pheromone of the common housefly Musca domestica L, was reported by Carlson et al. [l]. Soon after this work, Cargill & Rosenblum [2] published a better and more convenient synthesis of 1 by reaction between a natural fatty acid (uiz., 2) and MeLi followed by the reduction of the resulting ketone with hydrazine hydrate and KOH. Since both these syntheses involved the use of toxic reagents, Cormier et al. proposed a student synthesis of 1 from 2 with a 34% yield involving multiple steps [3]. Our work was stimulated by the recent interest in exploiting the novel application of the Kolbe electrolysis, a simple electrochemical method, for the synthesis of some pheromones [4-61. A recent report