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Carbonated soybean oil was synthesized from epoxidized soybean oil and CO 2 at atmospheric pressure and with tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBABr) as catalyst. Kinetic parameters, i.e., rate constants, activation energy and pre-exponential factors were determined. The effects of catalyst concentration and water content were studied. The reaction followed first-order kinetics with respect to epoxide at 100-140°C. A steep increase in conversion (ca. 30 %) was obtained by increasing the amount of catalyst from 3 to 5 %. Further increasing the amount of catalyst to 7 % increased the conversion less than 10 %. The reaction proceeded faster when water was added; reaction times with water were ca. 70 % of the reaction times without water. Titration, FTIR and 1 H-NMR analyses indicated ca. 90 % conversion and ca. 88 % selectivity towards the carbonate after 70 h at 120°C with 5 % mol TBABr and 1:3 molar ratio of water to epoxide.

The glycerolysis reaction of soybean oil was evaluated using crude glycerol obtained from the transesterification of soybean oil with methanol, catalyzed by sodium methoxide and sodium hydroxide, without any purification step other than the methanol removal. Crude glycerol with the lower content of remaining inorganic catalyst produced the highest concentration of monoglycerides (about 42%). The effect of the addition of water on the glycerolysis reaction was analyzed, evidencing a low formation rate of products in the first stages of the reaction due to the transformation of the inorganic catalyst to soaps, which are weaker bases. The sample of crude glycerol that led to the best results was evaluated at several temperatures. It was observed that the reaction with crude glycerol exhibits a lower formation rate of monoglycerides at low temperatures (160 and 180°C) compared with the reaction with pure glycerol and catalyzed with NaOH. This behavior was explained by the lower activity of the soaps present in the crude glycerol respect to the inorganic base. Above 200°C the reaction is very fast and the monoglycerides formed are consumed to produce diglycerides.