Papers by Author: Rose Aini Kamaruddin

Abstract: Different catalysts, namely various loading of perchloric acid on various supports; HClO₄/silica (SiO₂), HClO₄/silica gel (SG) and HClO₄/alumina (Al₂O₃) were tested for the direct addition reaction of oleic acid (OA) to form estolide compounds. The reactions were carried out under vacuum (2 mBar) for 10 hours at 70 °C under solvent-less conditions. LC-MS ToF of reaction products results showed chromatographic peaks for the presence of two new estolide compounds, oleic-oleic monoestolide acid (m/z 563.51, as [M-H]^-), and oleic-oleic diestolide acid (m/z 845.77 [M-H]^-). The optimum loading of HClO₄ for every support are 15 wt.% HClO₄/SiO₂ (SiO₂15), 10 wt.% HClO₄/SG (SG10) and 35 wt.% HClO₄/Al₂O₃ (Al₂O₃35). The SG10 turned out to be the best catalyst, achieving a final conversion of 97.5 % with 79.8 % selectivity to oleic-oleic monoestolide acid and 17.7 % selectivity to oleic-oleic diestolide acid. The activity and selectivity of the SG10 have been investigated and compared with homogeneous HClO₄. The optimum catalysts for every support were characterized by XPS analysis, BET, TEM and TPD-NH₃.

Abstract: The syntheses of estolides via condensation reaction of oleic acid were investigated using heterogenous catalysts. In this study HClO4 is supported onto suitable support to make it environmentally friendly. A series of solid acid catalyst containing 5-45 % of perchloric acid supported onto silica was synthesized and characterized using XRD, BET surface area measurement, TEM and XPS surface analysis. Silica modified with perchloric acid was found to be efficient and environmentally benign solid acid catalyst for estolide synthesis. The reaction was performed at 70 oC for 10 hours to give oleic-oleic monoestolide acid (m/z 563.51 as M-H)-. Based on the experimental findings above, optimum catalytic performance was with 15 % HClO4 loading onto SiO2 to give 98.98 % conversion of the oleic acid with 63.98 % oleic-oleic monoestolide acid selectivity.