Many strategies are being developed to convert biofeedstocks to degradable plastics that can be substituted for petroleum-based plastics. Not all petroleum-based plastics have been substituted at this time, therefore it is important to be able to make these plastics even after petroleum sources eventually run out. Strategies are being explored to convert biofeedstocks to common petroleum-based monomers, particularly α-olefins. Fatty acid esters are particularly prominent in biofeedstocks and could be a useful source to generate olefins, however the acyl-O bonds of many esters are difficult to activate. While several deoxygenation routes of fatty acid esters have been reported with supported metal catalysts, these methods have suffered from poor reaction control, product selectivity and the need for high operating temperatures. Homogeneous catalytic decarbonylation of fatty acid esters to form the corresponding olefins is extremely rare in the literature. In this study, high throughput screening studies were used to identify promising catalysts and ligands for homogeneous decarbonylation of fatty acid esters. The results of this screening study will be discussed.

Catalytic decarbonylation of fatty acid esters

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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