Influence of catalyst structure on direct ethoxylation of fatty methyl esters over Al‐Mg composite oxide catalyst

Abstract

AbstractDuring direct ethoxylation of fatty methyl ester over Al‐Mg composite oxide catalyst, the activity was nearly proportional to the total number of active Al acidic sites on the catalyst surface per unit weight of catalyst. Lower active Al acidic site densities resulted in a narrower ethylene oxide (EO) adduct distribution of obtained ethoxylate. We developed a new catalyst with a large surface area on which many acidic sites are distributed uniformly by partially poisoning the Al acid sites of high‐Al content Al‐Mg composite oxide with alkali. This catalyst was used for direct ethoxylation of fatty methyl esters to obtain ethoxylated fatty methyl esters with narrow EO adduct distribution efficiently.