The esterification of glycerine with lauric acid catalyzed by multi-valent metal salts. Selective formation of mono- and dilaurins

Multi-valent metal salts, such as zirconium, ferric, and aluminum salt hydrates gave high catalytic activity for the esterification of glycerine (GL) with lauric acid (LA) without the solvent. Among them, ZrOCl2 center dot 8H(2)O and AlCl3 center dot 6H(2)O gave lauric acid monoglyceride (Monolaurin; ML) in high selectivity. Fe-2(SO4)(3) center dot nH(2)O and Zr(SO4)(2) center dot 4H(2)O gave lauric acid diglyceride (Dilaurin; DL) even in the excess of GL. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.