Synthesis of monoglycerides by esterification of oleic acid with glycerol in heterogeneous catalytic process using tin-organic framework catalyst
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Contributors
Abstract
Selective synthesis of monoglycerides by esterification of glycerol with fatty acids is a difficult reaction because of immiscibility of reagents and the formation of di- and tri-glyceride by-products. In this work a heterogeneous catalytic process was conceived in which the reactant mixture was homogenized using tert-butanol solvent. Candidate catalysts were screened in the reaction of oleic acid with glycerol. While under such reaction conditions zeolites were rather inactive, metal-organic frameworks and, especially, tin-organic frameworks were found promising. A tin-organic framework (Sn-EOF) was most active and achieved ≥98 % monoglyceride selectivity at 40 % conversion in catalyzing esterification of oleic acid with glycerol at a low reaction temperature of 150 C. Leaching of tin from Sn-EOF catalyst was suppressed by limiting the amount of oleic acid in the starting mixture. Characterization of the acid sites of Sn-EOF by pyridine-chemisorption and FTIR revealed Lewis acidity to be responsible for the catalytic activity.
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 356-363 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Catalysis letters |
Volume | 143 |
Issue number | 4 |
Publication status | Published - 13 Feb 2013 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Keywords
- Esterification, Monoglycerides, Oleic acid, tert-Butanol, Tin-organic framework