Heterogeneously-Catalyzed Glycerolysis of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters: Reaction Parameter Optimization

Abstract

The synthesis of monoglycerides by glycerolysis of methyl oleate, an unsaturated fatty acid methyl ester, was studied on strongly basic high surface area MgO as an alternative to the current commercial technology that uses liquid base catalysts. Initially, the reaction conditions such as catalyst particle size and stirring rate required for operating the four-phase reactor under a kinetically controlled regime were determined. Then, the optimization of the reaction parameters for achieving high monoglyceride yields was performed. Results showed that glycerolysis of methyl oleate on MgO compares favorably with the corresponding homogeneously catalyzed process. In fact, when using high reaction temperatures (493−523 K), glycerol/methyl oleate molar ratios between 2 and 6, and catalyst/reactant ratios of about 30 g/mol, glycerolysis of methyl oleate on MgO yields up to 77% monoglycerides in 2 h, a much higher value than those usually obtained via the liquid-base-catalyzed homogeneous process (40−60%).