METHODS FOR THE EPOXIDATION OF VEGETABLE OILS AND THEIR DERIVATIVES

Abstract

Epoxidized vegetable oils have seen increasing application diversity in chemical and polymer industry. They are mainly used as stabilizer and plasticizer for polyvinyl chloride (PVC). However, they are also promising intermediates for the production of other vegetable oil derivatives. Vegetable oils are epoxidized in the industry with in situ formed organic peracid, commonly performic or peracetic acid. The shortcomings of this method include the occurrence of side reactions as well as the necessity for treatment of waste streams. Therefore, other epoxidation methods such as epoxidation with organic and inorganic hydroperoxides and epoxidation with dioxiranes have been studied extensively. Also, enzymatic epoxidation has attracted much attention in recent years. The advantages and shortcomings of the studied epoxidation methods will be discussed in the present work.