ARS | Publication request: PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MONOESTOLIDES WITH VARYING CHAIN LENGTHS

Submitted to: Regional Meeting of American Chemical Society
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: September 15, 2005
Publication Date: September 15, 2005
Citation: Phillips, J.L., Lowery, B.A., Isbell, T., Cermak, S.C. 2005. Physical properties of monoestolides with varying chain lengths [abstract]. Regional Meeting of American Chemical Society. p. 1.

Technical Abstract: Estolides, oligomeric secondary esters of fatty acids, have been shown to have properties that make them suitable as potential motor oil. Previous research in synthesizing estolides has only been done with a mixture of estolide numbers (EN) for any given chain length. These studies show that with mixed EN of 2 ¿ 3, a 10 carbon chain capped estolide yielded the lowest pour point (PP). To better determine what effect chain length alone has on the physical properties of estolides, monoestolides were synthesized with varying chain capping lengths, and then tested to determine physical properties. Pyridine catalyzed reactions of hydroxy methyl stearate and anhydrides of appropriate carbon chain lengths (acetic, butyric, and hexanoic) produced estolides possessing an EN of 1. For longer chain lengths, a tin octoate catalyzed reaction between hydroxy methyl stearate and the appropriate carboxylic acid produced estolides that once distilled possess an EN of 1. Data obtained from testing showed that trends emerged in pour point, cloud point and viscosity measurements. This data shows that physical properties of interest are influenced by chain length.