Catalytic processes for the technical use of natural fats and oils

Vegetable fats such as rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, palm oil or coconut oil consisting of triglycerides offer different carbon chain distributions. The use of these raw materials for the production of industrial chemicals as well as for fuel (biodiesel), which is finally a substitution for mineral oil, is a political discussion with various facets. The basic products such as fatty acids, fatty alcohols, and esters have different physical properties and lead to various areas of application depending on the carbon chain distribution. While the chain length range Of C-12 represents important raw materials for detergents, chain lengths of C-18 are used mainly in industrial applications, e.g. as lubricants. Natural fatty alcohols are produced by the heterogeneous catalyzed high-pressure hydrogenation of methyl esters or fatty acids. The unsaturated fats and oils can be derivatized catalytically by functionalization, oligomerization, oxidation or metathesis. Thereby, new functional groups are introduced into the oleochemical substrate. The carbon chain length can be increased or reduced respectively, or a branching in the fatty chain is introduced. Products with completely new properties and areas of applications are available due to these catalytic variations of fats and oils.