ИСТИНА

Currently the methods of epoxidation of vegetable oils and their derivatives with using special agents (peracids, organic hydroperoxides, hydrogen peroxide [1,2,3]) are well-known. In this report applying an atmospheric oxygen as an epoxidizing agent was proposed. Air oxygen as a single oxidant in the reaction mixture is rather desirable as available and absolutely non-toxic oxidant. The aim of this work was to study the kinetics of the process of epoxidation of the mixture of fatty acid methyl esters of sunflower oil by atmospheric oxygen. It has been assumed that peroxide compounds, which form in situ through the radical oxidation, can epoxidize double bonds of unsaturated fatty acid esters in the presence of transition metal complex [4]. The complexes of cobalt, molybdenum and vanadium with glycols (propylene glycol and diethylene glycol) were considered as the catalysts.