A monoglyceride‐rich tung oil product

Abstract

AbstractA method for preparing tung monoglycerides (1) by the reaction of tung oil with an excess of glycerol in the presence of sodium methoxide as the catalyst has been adapted to the preparation of large batches of material. Laboratory scale studies have shown that a product analyzing as containing up to 50% of tung monoglycerides is produced when the reaction is carried out at 150ŶC. for one hour with an excess of 1 mole of glycerol and 1% of sodium methoxide (based on oil weight). The data were applied successfully to three batchwise pilotplant preparations using from 30 to 47 pounds of tung oil to produce a product containing from 32% to 45% tung monoglycerides. Unreated glycerol was successfully separated from the product by centrifugation, with no water or salt solution washing, to give a product containing 1.5% to 3.5% free glycerol.Difficulties were encountered in analyzing the product for monoglyceride, and it was found that the triene conjugation contributed to high results, However, there also appear to be components other than simple monoglycerides in the product which analyze as monoglycerides to give a falsely high value, as evidenced by differences found by analyses of the products before and after essentially complete hydrogenation.