92238-33-0Relevant articles and documents
Synthetic polyester from algae oil
Roesle, Philipp,Stempfle, Florian,Hess, Sandra K.,Zimmerer, Julia,Riobartulos, Carolina,Lepetit, Bernard,Eckert, Angelika,Kroth, Peter G.,Mecking, Stefan
, p. 6800 - 6804 (2014/07/08)
Current efforts to technically use microalgae focus on the generation of fuels with a molecular structure identical to crude oil based products. Here we suggest a different approach for the utilization of algae by translating the unique molecular structures of algae oil fatty acids into higher value chemical intermediates and materials. A crude extract from a microalga, the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, was obtained as a multicomponent mixture containing amongst others unsaturated fatty acid (16:1, 18:1, and 20:5) phosphocholine triglycerides. Exposure of this crude algae oil to CO and methanol with the known catalyst precursor [{1,2-(tBu2PCH2) 2C6H4}Pd(OTf)](OTf) resulted in isomerization/methoxycarbonylation of the unsaturated fatty acids into a mixture of linear 1,17- and 1,19-diesters in high purity (>99%). Polycondensation with a mixture of the corresponding diols yielded a novel mixed polyester-17/19.17/19 with an advantageously high melting and crystallization temperature. Algae as feedstock: Crude algae oil from the strain Phaeodactylum tricornutum was transformed into polycondensation-grade purity monomers and thus utilized as feedstock for the production of an algae oil based polyester.
