Patent Title: METATHESIZED TRIACYLGLYCEROL POLYOLS FOR USE IN POLYURETHANE APPLICATIONS AND THEIR RELATED PROPERTIES

 Number/Link: US2015/0337073

Applicant/Assignee: Trent University

Publication date: 26-11-2015

“Gist”: Palm oil is metathesized before hydroxylation.

Why it is interesting: Natural-oil based polyols (NOPs) prepared from unsaturated plant oils are well known in the PU industry. In this case however, the oil is first modified into a ‘metathesized triacylglycerol’ by cross-metathesis using (e.g.) 1,2-butene and an appropriate catalyst. The result is a complex mixture of triglycerids, the unsaturations of which are then epoxidized and hydrolyzed into the final polyol.  In the examples palm-oil metathezised triacylglycerol (PMTAG) is compared to a commercially available soy-oil polyol when used to perpare both flexible and rigid foams. While the chemistry is interesting there does not appear to be much advantage to this type of NOP.

Metathesis reaction of triolein with butene