Synthesis and process optimization of soybean oil-based terminal epoxides for the production of new biodegradable polycarbonates via the intergration of CO2

This paper reports the synthesis of soybean oil-based terminal epoxides (SOTE) through the saponification of soybean oil followed by epoxidation and their application for the production of new biodegradable polycarbonates via the intergration of CO2. Three processes for the production of soap from soybean oil were compared. Epoxidation reaction parameters, including the molar ratio of epichlorohydrin (EPCH) to soap, phase transfer catalyst (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, MB) loading, and reaction time, were optimized based on the response surface methodology via a Box-Behnken experimental design. The optimal reaction parameters for the production of soybean oil -based terminal epoxide were a molar ratio of EPCH to soap at 17.3:1 with 2.4% CTAB based on 1 mol of soap under refluxing for 28.4min. Epoxidation yields of 94.3% were obtained with these optimized reaction parameters. The synthesized SOTE were then polymerized with CO2 for the production of new biodegradable polycarbonates, which had a molecular weight of 5100 g/mol with a dispersity of 1.22. (C)2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.