The isomerizing hydroformylation of fatty acid esters to oleochemicals with an additional o-standing aldehyde group can be performed at a relatively low temperature of 115 7C and a synthesis gas pressure of 20 bar. In the case of oleic acid ester, the best yield of linear aldehyde is 26%; in the case of linoleic acid ester, it is 34%. For both fatty compounds, a strong hydrogenation side reaction is observed, which can be explained by a steering effect of the ester group. The ester function of the fatty compounds makes hydroformylation in the surrounding area of this group impossible. Reactions with the model substances ethyl crotonate and ethyl sorbate showed that hydrogenation predominates, leading to the corresponding saturated compounds.

Vegetable fats such as rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, palm oil or coconut oil consisting of triglycerides offer different carbon chain distributions. The use of these raw materials for the production of industrial chemicals as well as for fuel (biodiesel), which is finally a substitution for mineral oil, is a political discussion with various facets. The basic products such as fatty acids, fatty alcohols, and esters have different physical properties and lead to various areas of application depending on the carbon chain distribution. While the chain length range of C 12 represents important raw materials for detergents, chain lengths of C 18 are used mainly in industrial applications, e.g. as lubricants. Natural fatty alcohols are produced by the heterogeneous catalyzed high-pressure hydrogenation of methyl esters or fatty acids. The unsaturated fats and oils can be derivatized catalytically by functionalization, oligomerization, oxidation or metathesis. Thereby, new functional groups are introduced into the oleochemical substrate. The carbon chain length can be increased or reduced respectively, or a branching in the fatty chain is introduced. Products with completely new properties and areas of applications are available due to these catalytic variations of fats and oils.

The article contains sections titled: 1. Introduction 2. Properties 2.1. Physical Properties 2.2. Chemical Properties 3. Production of Natural Fatty Acids 3.1. Resources and Raw Materials 3.2. Fat Splitting 3.2.1. Hydrolysis – Principles 3.2.2. Hydrolysis – Industrial Procedure 3.2.3. Hydrolysis – Enzymatic Processes 3.3. Separation of Fatty Acids 3.3.1. Distillation 3.3.2. Crystallization 3.4. Modification of Fatty Acids 3.4.1. Hydrogenation 3.4.2. Double Bond Isomerization 3.4.3. Dehydration 3.4.4. Dimerization 3.4.5. Ozonolysis 3.4.6. Thermal Decomposition 3.4.7. Bio‐Oxidation of Fatty Acids 3.4.8. Enzymatic Esterification 4. Production of Synthetic Fatty Acids 4.1. Hydroformylation 4.2. Hydrocarboxylation 4.3. Other Commercial and Noncommercial Processes 5. Analysis 6. Storage and Transportation 7. Environmental Protection, Toxicology and Occupational Health 8. Uses 9. References

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