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.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 356-363 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Catalysis Letters |
Volume | 143 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Apr 2013 |
Keywords
- Esterification
- Monoglycerides
- Oleic acid
- Tin-organic framework
- tert-Butanol
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Catalysis
- General Chemistry