Abstract
A fatty methyl ester product has been made using two routes. Soybean oil was thermally polymerized anaerobically without a catalyst at 330 °C and the material was then transesterified using base catalyst and methanol. Alternatively, a similar product can be obtained by heating methyl linoleate to the same temperature in a pressure reactor. The product structure was studied by NMR spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography and mass spectrometry. It is a dimeric product which does not contain substituted cyclohexane structures. This evidence shows that the Diels-Alder reaction has not occurred under these conditions. This is in contradiction to many literature reports, but in agreement with a neglected paper from 1971. This correction has implications in both biodiesel and industrial oil products.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 987-994 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | JAOCS, Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society |
Volume | 89 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Biobased lubricant
- Diels-Alder reaction
- Oleochemicals
- Thermal polymerization
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemical Engineering
- Organic Chemistry