Selective synthesis of fatty monoglycerides by using functionalised mesoporous catalysts

This work describes the performance of "functionalised ordered mesoporous materials" in the esterification of glycerol with fatty acids, such as lauric and oleic acids. The influence of several properties of the catalysts on their activity and monoglyceride selectivity is discussed. For the MCM-41 structure synthesised by the co-condensation method, the influence of the gel composition, hydrophobicity, nature of the functional group and pore size is presented. The catalytic behaviour of structures like SBA-15, SBA-12 and SBA-2 functionalised with mercaptopropyl groups is also discussed. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.