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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Bio-oils Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #300305

Title: Polyamine triglycerides: Synthesis and study of their potential in lubrication, neutralization and sequestration

Author
item Harry O Kuru, Rogers
item Biresaw, Girma
item Murray, Rex

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/26/2015
Publication Date: 12/31/2015
Citation: Harry-O'kuru, R.E., Biresaw, G., Murray, R.E. 2015. Polyamine triglycerides: Synthesis and study of their potential in lubrication, neutralization and sequestration. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 63(28):6422-6429.

Interpretive Summary: In this research, a novel bio-based environmental remediation was prepared from milkweed oil. This oil derivative has a novel composition of matter hitherto unknown in vegetable or any oils. It has multiple applications from behavior as a pH modifier, to use as a chelating agent for removing metal and non-metal ions from agricultural and industrial waste streams that pollute the Mississippi Delta. In other words, it is a bio-remediation agent which can also be used in metal working fluids. The technology is general, i.e. it is applicable to most vegetable oils so it is a bio-based environmental cleanup material. In the farmer’s vernacular, "it is a stone that can snag several birds."

Technical Abstract: Renewable resources have evoked a new awakening in both scientific and industrial circles in the past decade. Vegetable oil is one category of renewables that is amenable as a source of new industrial products. Because the source feedstock, seeds, are environmentally friendly, the derivatized products from these at the end of their lifetime could also be benign when designed appropriately. Bioethanol and biodiesel are examples of biobased industrial products currently in the market place and have become resources for uplifting the rural economy. Biolubricants also are playing a more prominent role because they have become closely competitive with petroleum-based lubricants. These products are renewable because the crops from which the feedstuff for the biofuels and biolubricants are produced are grown annually in contrast to nonrenewable mineral sources. Added to their renewability is the inherent biodegradability of their end-use products after their useful lifetime. In a recent study of the lubricity characteristics of peracylated polyhydroxy milkweed oil, the derivatives were found to exhibit good oxidative stability as well as excellent antiwear properties. To further explore an expansion in the properties of such materials in lubrication and other applications, in this study the polyhydroxy (OH) moieties of derivatized milkweed triglycerides were replaced with -NHR groupings in the oil. In this process novel polyketo triglyceride intermediates leading to polyamine derivatives of the vegetable oil have been synthesized. The polyamine triglyceride markedly improved the stability of the parent oil to oxidative stress. It has also attenuated the extreme viscosity of the starting polyhydroxy oil to a more useful product that could be made amenable for use as a lubricating agent, for example, hydraulic fluid. Both the polyketone and polyimine intermediates of the polyamine have chelating properties. The intermediates and the polyamine were characterized spectroscopically, tribologically, and rheologically for their intrinsic properties.