Abstract
In this study the synthesis of epoxy fatty acid esters of starch (starch vernolates) by the reaction of cassava starch with vernonia oil methyl ester (epoxy ester) using basic catalyst K2CO3 and organic solvent, DMSO as a reaction medium is presented. Under current reaction conditions, a high degree of substitution of 1.24 was achieved, at a reaction temperature of 110°C and 12 hours of reaction time. The new starch vernolates were characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated that the new product is an amorphous material with a continuous and shapeless morphology. The melting point measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was 118°C. The new synthetic method makes the synthesis of starch vernolates less time consuming and more inexpensive. The differences in melting point and degree of substitution with previously synthesized starch vernolates using enzymatic and chemical catalysis suggest a difference in reaction selectivity via this new reaction path.
Highlights
The challenges associated with the depletion of fossil oil resources and the huge environmental impact of petroleum based products are the major driving forces in searching for sustainable, renewable resources for both the provision of a vast inventory of organic molecules and energy generation/storage vectors
Vernonia oil methyl ester (VOME) was prepared following literature procedures [19] using vernonia oil extracted from Vernonia galamensis seed, donated by Adet Agricultural Research Centre, Ethiopia
The starch vernolate product was subjected to different solubility studies
Summary
The challenges associated with the depletion of fossil oil resources and the huge environmental impact of petroleum based products are the major driving forces in searching for sustainable, renewable resources for both the provision of a vast inventory of organic molecules and energy generation/storage vectors. Plant oils and naturally occurring triglycerides of fatty acids, are being studied as potential sources of renewable feedstocks for the oleochemical industry [2]. The multiple chemical functionality of vernonia oil makes it a unique candidate for derivatization in order to synthesize high value-added products and synthetic intermediates [4]. The saponification of vernonia oil results in about 72-80% of naturally epoxidized fatty acid, vernolic acid (cis-12, 13-epoxy-cis-9octadecenoic acid) [5]. Researchers have shown increasing interest in this species due to the presence of high content of vernolic acid in the seed oil. Vernonia oil has become a unique renewable candidate for industrial feedstock due to its use as raw material and its potential derivatization into value-added products [1, 6,7,8,9]
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