Preparation of Sebacic Acid via Alkali Fusion of Castor Oil and its Several Derivatives

Abstract Castor oil and its three derivatives including methyl ricinoleate, sodium ricinoleate and ricinoleic acid were used as the raw material for alkali fusion to prepare sebacic acid. The reaction parameters including catalyst, ratio of oleochemicals/NaOH, reaction time and reaction temperature were optimized. It was found that Pb 3 O 4 (1%) showed the best catalytic performance, and 553 K was considered as the most suitable reaction temperature. The oleochemicals/NaOH ratios of 15:14, 15:14, 15:12 and 15:14 were determined as the optimal ratio for alkali fusion of castor oil, methyl ricinoleate, sodium ricinoleate and ricinoleic acid, respectively. In addition, the optimal reaction time of alkali fusion of castor oil was 5 hours, and that of its derivatives was 3 hours. The maximum yield in sebacic acid of 68.8%, 77.7%, 80.1%, 78.6% can be obtained by using castor oil, methyl ricinoleate, sodium ricinoleate and ricinoleic acid as the raw material, respectively. High purity of sebacic acid was confirmed by GC and melting point analysis. ICP‐OES results illustrated that the content of Pb in sebcic acid was less than 1 mg kg −1 . Separating glycerol from castor oil was beneficial for alkali fusion, by which, the yield of sebacic acid was increased of approximately 10%, and the reaction time was reduced from 5 to 3 hours. This study provided guiding significance for the future industrial production of sebacic acid.