Modifications of Plant Oils for Value-Added Uses

Abstract

Plant oils are valuable agricultural commodities and useful raw materials for the preparation of value-added products. In this article, a review is made of the various structural modifications made on plant oils in the authors' laboratories. The reactions include Diels-Alder, ene reaction, transesterification, acid or enzymatic hydrolysis, heat-bodying reaction, hydrogenation, epoxidation, formation of acetonide, aminohydrin, and azidohydrin, click reaction, and polymerization. A wide range of products have been made from plant oils and their epoxidized derivatives.Many of these reaction pathways produce new triglyceride structures not previously reported. The properties of selected products have been tested, particularly in lubricant applications to enhance viscosity, thermal stability, or mechanical wear.

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Sucrose Polyurethanes and Their Semi-interpenetrating Polymer Networks with Polycaprolactone and Soybean Oil

“…−60 °C). This polymer is often used as an additive for resins to improve their processing characteristics and their end-use properties (e.g., impact resistance). , Soybean oil (SBO) is a well-known and inexpensive commodity that has been widely utilized as raw material for a variety of polymeric materials. − …”

“…Because of the current interest in sustainability, environmental stewardship, and green chemistry, there has been a lot of interest in using agro-based raw materials for polymer design and synthesis. − An often used approach is to start with agricultural products or derivatives and then employ various polymerization methods to produce new biobased materials; for example, new polymeric materials have been made from triglycerides or epoxidized derivatives, − or from amino acids or their analogues. − In our laboratories, one of our synthetic approaches is to make polyurethanes from polysaccharides and their derivatives. − In particular, we have found the microwave-assisted technology to be helpful in making polyurethanes; the process is efficient, saves time, and minimizes energy consumption. Thus, we have previously developed microwave-assisted procedures for the synthesis of polyurethanes from starch and maltodextrin, cyclodextrins, and xylan .…”

Green Polymer Chemistry: Some Recent Developments and Examples

“…Cheng and Biswas (45) provided an overview of the various structural modifications made on plant oils in their laboratories The reactions included Diels-Alder, ene reaction, transesterification, acid or enzymatic hydrolysis, heat-bodying reaction, hydrogenation, epoxidation, formation of acetonide, aminohydrin and azidohydrin, click reaction, and polymerization.…”