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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Plant Polymer Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #230179
Title: Soybean Oil as a Renewable Feedstock for Nitrogen-Containing Derivatives

Author
item Biswas, Atanu
item SHARMA, BRAJENDRA - PENNSYLVANIA ST UNIVERSIT
item Willett, Julious
item Erhan, Sevim
item CHENG, H.N - HERCULES INC RES CNTR

Submitted to: Energy and Environmental Science
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/6/2008
Publication Date: 9/19/2008
Citation: Biswas, A., Sharma, B.K., Willett, J.L., Erhan, S.Z., Cheng, H. 2008. Soybean Oil as a Renewable Feedstock for Nitrogen-Containing Derivatives. Energy and Environmental Science. 1:639-644. Available: http://xlink.rsc.org/?doi=B809215J.

Interpretive Summary: There has been a constant demand for environmentally friendly products. The interest intensified during the last decade due to strict government and environmental regulations. Soybean oil (SBO) is a renewable natural resource and is an environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum-based products. There has been a fair amount of interest in using SBO as a raw material to produce SBO derivatives and even polymers. Examples are epoxidized oil, SBO methyl ester (methyl soyate), maleated products, SBO polymers, and others. In this review, we discussed various approaches of incorporating nitrogen into the triglyceride structure. Some of the reactions discussed are amination, amidation, azidation, etc. Also discussed is reaction with diethyl azodicarboxylate, which on subsequent hydrolysis produce azacarboxylate ester and hydrazine derivatives of SBO. These nitrogen containing vegetable oils have possible applications as ingredients in lubricants, coatings, cosmetics, biodiesel fuel, agricultural chemicals, spandex fibers, antioxidants, pharmaceuticals, and oil-based or oil-containing chemical products. The triazole containing products may have pharmaceutical activities.

Technical Abstract: A review is given of the use of soybean oil as a renewable feedstock to produce a range of different materials that contain nitrogen. In the past most efforts have been concentrated on converting triglycerides to fatty amines and amides. Indeed, many industrially significant fatty amines and amides are known and widely used. More recently, several research groups have developed novel approaches to functionalize the fatty acid chain structures to produce novel compounds, surfactants, and even polymers that contain nitrogen. Some of the approaches (involving organic and enzymatic reactions) may have industrial relevance. Included in this review are reactions with triglyceride oils, fatty acid esters, and methyl soyate (methyl esters of triglyceride oils).