Partial hydrogenation of soybean oil over a Pd/bentonite catalyst

In the chemical industry, hydrogenation reactions play a significant role by saturating double bonds in vegetable oils. While most selective hydrogenation processes are carried out at high temperatures (120-180 °C), the development of catalytic systems for partial hydrogenation at low temperatures has been scarcely studied. In this context, we investigated a catalyst obtained by incipient wetness impregnating a Pd(ii) salt onto bentonite, following its reduction to Pd(0). Under these conditions, a metal loading of 1.4% was achieved. At 550 psi of H₂, we proved the catalyst to be excellent for the partial hydrogenation of soybean oil at 25 °C and 70 °C, achieving iodine values (IV) of 76 and 71, respectively. These results are remarkable, particularly when considering the hydrogenation product as a potential feedstock.