Catalytic epoxidation of oleic acid through in situ hydrolysis for biopolyol formation
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Updated: Jan 14, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Siti Juwairiyah A Rahman1,2, Intan Suhada Azmi3, Mohd Jumain Jalil1
1Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Johor Branch, Kampus Pasir Gudang, Shah Alam, Malaysia.
Abstract:
The dependency on petroleum-based sources has raised concerns, leading to a focus on studying the production of bio-polyols through the in situ hydrolysis of epoxidized palm oleic acid. Epoxidized palm oleic acid was formulated using performic acid and formed in situ. The Runge-Kutta method in MATLAB enables a kinetic simulation of oxirane oxygen ring degradation throughout the epoxidation process, allowing for the determination of the yield of bio-polyols. The Taguchi method suggests the optimal parameters for bio polyols production, including a hydrogen peroxide/palm oleic acid molar ratio of 1.5:1, a formic acid/palm oleic acid molar ratio of 1.5:1, a reaction temperature of 50 °C, and a stirring speed of 450 rpm. Through kinetic modelling, bio-polyol was successfully produced from palm oleic acid with a reduced number of experimental runs.
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